Our College was built thanks to the dedication and passion of the Dominican Sisters. While there have been many changes to the buildings, population, size and curriculum, it is the Dominican tradition that underpins our Siena community and remains a constant and living presence.

We are excited to announce our Master Plan for the upcoming development of Siena College. The brief for this Master Plan was to ensure the opportunity for our students to thrive in:

• A contemporary learning environment to foster our vision for educational excellence
• A place where wellbeing, connection and a sense of the sacred is lived
• An ease about being onsite to best enable learning and connection

Linking the Master Plan to our Strategic Plan

Faith and Catholic Identity

• Creating a welcoming, inclusive and diverse environment, where each person is respected as an individual loved by God

Contemporary Learning and Teaching

• Promoting and valuing excellence in learning
• Designing and delivering engaging, authentic and transformative learning opportunities
• Optimising the use of current and emerging technologies

Wellbeing

• Cultivating safe physical, emotional and social environments that are positive, predictable, structured and familiar

Community

• Developing innovative partnerships and alliances with the wider community
• Fostering community partnerships that provide opportunities for students and staff through learning and service

Governance and Leadership

• Having oversight of the philanthropic endeavours and community partnerships in the College
• Monitoring enrolment trends and endorsing the College brand by being aware of the intergenerational viability of the College

Veritas (Truth)

‘Veritas’ is an ardent and ongoing search for truth in its many manifestations: through study, dialogue, discernment, scientific enquiry and curiosity. Everything is our teacher. Truth will call us to encounter, to witness to beatitude living, an awareness of who we are before God and one another and our common responsibility to help flourish all forms of life with dignity and respect.

STEAM

The acronym STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics – refers not just to isolated disciplines but rather an approach to learning that uses each domain as an access point for guiding student inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking.

Instead of teaching content knowledge and skills isolation, STEAM combines scientific inquiry with use of technology, engineering design and problem solving, creativity of art, and mathematical modelling to support student comprehension and understanding of the real world.

The Veritas STEAM Centre will provide:

• Six state of the art Science laboratories and twelve general purpose classrooms
  
• Hands-on learning opportunities, with a 3D printer equipped Maker Space Centre, providing artistic and technological exploration through design, prototyping and testing - including a presentation facility
  
• Co-laboratories created for the Sciences that enable students to transition seamlessly between theoretical and experiential ways of learning
  
• A clear connection between the Arts and STEAM buildings
  
• A rooftop garden, harvesting energy through solar cells with a weather station, energy and water usage meters making data visible to students for real time, authentic learning

Places, Spaces and Graces

Naming of the Siena College campus - click here

We acknowledge the wonderful work of our Architects, McGlashan Everest who have collaborated with great vision and insight.

A Message from the Architects

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver a new learning environment within a cohesive Master Plan at Siena – a campus that is stimulating, harmonious and reflective of the spirit, joy and creativity at the core of learning. Our vision and design for the College is to create spaces for students to take ownership of their environment, learning places to foster student engagement, common spaces to cultivate social interaction, reflective spaces for spiritual growth and opportunities for collaborative learning to be carried from inside to outdoor learning spaces.

The Master Plan creates a new expression of life at Siena, one that plans for future use of affordable and clean energy, and provides much needed green space and east to west flow within the campus.

A Message from the Landscape Architect

Our emphasis is on developing a more integrated relationship between the landscape and interior space, and on providing ample opportunity to develop new outdoor areas for respite, play and learning. The Master Plan reimagines the current layout of the campus into one that celebrates movement, beauty and views, with increased pedestrian connectivity and improved wayfinding. The landscape will build on the diverse and eclectic older plantings, reintroducing precolonial vegetation to the planting palette and expanding the biodiversity and habitat that the campus offers.