The Board of Governors have spent time this year developing a Master Site Plan for the College. The intention was to develop a blueprint for the probable and possible new building constructions needed over the next twenty years and to decide where in the College such projects should be ideally placed. I have witnessed many schools around the world that have had an’ ad hoc’ arrangement to the location of buildings over time. Unfortunately, these arrangements can have a negative impact on future plans and projects.

A Master Site Plan should identify the strengths of the existing College layout, areas of land use conflict and areas for possible improvement. Accordingly, the Board decided to investigate this issue thoroughly, using advisors from Beca Carter. The Board set some parameters for the study, one of which was that the College would not change radically with respect to the size of the College and its current enrolment mix.

The initial aims were to:

·        Provide and maintain effective facilities throughout the College, including all learning, recreational, service and accommodation requirements. This commits the College to a long term update of existing buildings and the creation of new ones such as the Sports Complex, a Design Technology Centre and a Chapel Precinct;

·        Maximise the use of the existing land area and dispose of any surplus requirements, which explains the Board decision this year to investigate the sale of the land at the top of the drive near Old Selwyn House: and

·        Extend the existing land area of the College when this has strategic long term value.

The review highlighted that the previous Boards at King’s College have built wisely and logically and gave a clear reminder to the current Board to do likewise. However, there are some conflicting and current land use issues that need to be addressed at the College. These include pedestrian and transport flow; car parking, especially during special events; student seating and shade areas; the location and condition of staff housing and the location and provision of service facilities.

The Master Site Planning team was given the brief to provide solutions to all of the above. The process involved input from both the teaching and non-teaching staff and the Senior Management Team. Priority lists were established for possible future projects and site issues were identified. A draft plan was submitted to the Board at a strategic planning meeting in May of this year and reviewed in September. The Board accepted the Plan at their Board Meeting in November, but acknowledged that it should be seen as an active document that will be reviewed every two years.

Extensive discussion and planning has been given to the location, structure and financial requirements for the College’s major capital works over the next five years, as identified in the College’s Strategic Plan and these include the following:

·        Completion of the sports complex, consisting of a hockey turf and athletics track, in 2006. Work will commence on the relocation of the cricket wickets and associated drainage in May of 2005.

·        A state of the art Design Technology building which will allow students of all abilities to thrive in a practical/problem solving learning environment. The building will contain materials technology, electronics and systems design components and will prepare students for 21^st century employment skills.

·        A Chapel precinct with reflection space or oratory, Chaplain’s office, storeroom, Choir facilities and an RE classroom. This proposed building reflects the current needs of the Chaplaincy and community service programme which has outgrown the office area of the current Chapel.

·        Two new day houses, likely to be one boys’ house and one girls’ house, aimed at reducing the student numbers in our day houses, which are presently too high.

·        A renovation of the Great Hall and Music Centre to allow for better use of these facilities for dramatic and music productions. A small theatrette is also being considered as an adjunct to the current facilities.

A conservative cost estimation of these projects will be in excess of $20million. The chances of all of these projects being completed will be strongly influenced by the need for fundraising and careful planning by the College.

Roy Kelley