RICHMOND HIGH school

On December 13, 1992, a picket line of up to 150 Richmond Secondary College supporters stared down a baton charge by Victoria Police. Five people were arrested, many injured and three people were hospitalised. Dubbed “Bloody Monday” the day was a violent aberration amongst 360 days of peaceful protests against the school’s closure, directed to make way for an elite girls school.

Protestor persistence drew the Kennett Government to the negotiating table and secured the school’s future and legacy, which now exists as Richmond High School. In 2021, following the construction of new buildings, the school self-raised the funds to complete its landscaping. With sporting areas already accounted for, the new landscaping prioritises softer, greener, passive spaces for groups small and large.

The school’s activism is now channelled into environmental causes. At the school’s request, SBLA Studio repurposed the school’s existing concrete surfaces rather than sending it to landfill, cutting it into blocks for garden edging and randomised, permeable paving that directs water run-off to acacia and blackwood seedlings. The concrete’s harder edges are juxtaposed by soft coir logs made from coconut husks that will slowly break down and allow the garden to find its form over time. Plants flower year-round: wattle in winter and native daisy in spring; and a new amphitheatre is a focal point for the school’s popular dramatic arts program.

Design Team Aunty Doreen Garvey-Wandin | Emma Capper | Kate McCracken | Simone Bliss | Colin Chen

Photos by Pier Carthew