Arabic version: المدارس العمودية تقدم نموذجاً لنمو بريزبن

According to ABC News, vertical schools have emerged in inner-city Brisbane as a way to meet demand for public high school places while using smaller blocks of land. Unlike traditional school layouts, the buildings use high-rise features including atria, stairs and balconies, with spaces designed for multiple uses.

Fortitude Valley State Secondary College, Brisbane’s first dedicated vertical school, opened in 2020 with 137 Year 7 students. It was intended to ease enrolment pressure on Kelvin Grove State College and reached full grade operation in 2025 after adding a year level annually. Brisbane South State Secondary School opened in Dutton Park in 2021 with about 200 Year 7 students, with the aim of relieving Brisbane State High School.

Queensland University of Technology education professor Jill Willis said demand for inner-city high schools was growing as more families lived in apartments, while land was limited and established schools were oversubscribed. Research by Dr Willis and colleagues involving FVSSC graduates was published in the peer-reviewed journal Learning, Media and Technology in February. She said students described strong connections with one another and their community.

FVSSC principal Chrissie Coogan said students had adapted to the environment and developed greater independence and responsibility for their learning. She said supervision, wellbeing and movement across multiple levels required careful planning, but the benefits of collaboration, innovation and community connections outweighed the challenges. Ms Coogan also said vertical schooling was not suitable everywhere and that design must fit the local community and educational vision.

Parents at West End State School have urged the government to consider a new school at the former Visy site in West End, where Lendlease plans to build 4,000 apartments. The school’s P&C said education infrastructure should be planned alongside housing, transport, parks and community facilities. The Department of Education said the school had sufficient capacity in the short to medium term and would continue monitoring growth in the local network.