Coonawarra Willam Aquatic Centre
“I think it is amazing that this kind of facility is available at our school every single day. I feel grateful to be one of the students who gets to see it being built.” Sophia, Ivanhoe Grammar School student and competitive swimmer.
We are incredibly excited that in early 2025 we will be opening our Coonawarra Willam Aquatic Centre alongside our new sporting fields: a state-of-the-art soccer pitch, and a fabulous hockey field, which converts to multiple tennis and netball courts. Located at our Plenty Campus, these facilities will be used and enjoyed by all Ivanhoe Grammar School families, students from other schools participating in AGSV/APS sports, and the communities in and around the suburbs of Mernda, Doreen, South Morang, Wollert, Craigieburn and beyond.
Coonawarra Willam Aquatic Centre, designed by architects Peddle Thorp, includes a 25-metre pool, learn-to-swim pool, strength and conditioning gymnasium, beautiful changerooms and facilities, and classrooms designed for our Physical Education and Health and Human Development classes. These new facilities will greatly enhance the wellbeing of our students and staff, while also providing valuable resources for Ivanhoe Edge, our unique co-curricular extension program. Families from the area who join Ivanhoe Swim, our wonderful learn-to-swim program and swimming squad, will also benefit from their use, creating opportunities for learning and connection beyond the classroom.
The Centre is built with sustainability in mind, including a solar energy system across the large roof span to generate its own power, rainwater collection and recycling to refill the pool when needed, constructed with air tightness requirements to increase the efficiency of heating and cooling, it also has a special vapour barrier membrane on the ceiling and walls around the pool to stop any condensation reaching outside.
Coonawarra Willam means ‘Home of the Swan’ in the Woi-wurrung language of the Wurundjeri people. The name for our aquatic centre was provided by Wurundjeri Elder and holder of knowledge, Aunty Zeta Thomson. Coonawarra, the swan, is both a water and land animal. It builds its life on two of nature’s elements: earth and water. These elements are symbolic of the activities that will occur daily in this centre, through the pool, classrooms, gymnasium, and surrounding sporting fields.
We see the majestic swan glide across the waterways and graze on local lands. We see the swan leading, protecting, and educating their young, their cygnets. The swan, therefore, represents the activities in our aquatic centre, our connection to our local lands and the community who are invited to participate in activities in this place of education.
We look forward to welcoming you all soon to Coonawarra Willam Aquatic Centre.
