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PASCOE VALE PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.3081
362-364 GAFFNEY STREET, PASCOE VALE, MORELAND CITY

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PASCOE VALE PS
PASCOE VALE PS
PASCOE VALE PS
PASCOE VALE PS
PASCOE VALE PS
PASCOE VALE PS
Pascoe Vale Primary School
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Pascoe Vale Primary School No.3081 at 362-364 Gaffney Street. The two storey building, designed by the Public Works Department under the direction of E. Evan Smith and opened in 1929, is significant. The original form, external detailing and materials and the high integrity of the building when viewed from Gaffney Street is integral to its significance.

Other buildings, structures (including the war memorial) and trees on the site are not significant.

How is it significant?
Pascoe Vale Primary School No.3081 is of local historic, architectural and social significance to the City of Moreland.

Why is it significant?
Pascoe Vale Primary School is of historic significancefor its associations with the development of educational facilities after World War I both in its role as a primary school and as a training facility for CoburgTeachers' College.It is also significant as tangible evidence of the suburban development of Pascoe Vale after World War I and as a facility that encouraged further development of the suburb in the decades afterwards. It is socially significant for its strong associations with the local community as a place of state education for local families for almost a century. (Criteria A & G)

Pascoe Vale Primary School is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine example of neo-Classical school design by the Chief Architect of the Public Works Department (1922-29) E. Evan Smith. The two-storey red brick building displays a high quality of detailing in the moulded wall surfaces, multi-paned sash windows, entry porch and half glazed doors. It represents a level of design sophistication by providing excellent conditions for learning. E. Evan Smith's architecture of generous spaces, light and ventilation is evident in the Pascoe Vale Primary School. (Criteria D & E)

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    • Physical Description 1

      PASCOE VALE PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.3081 - Physical Description 1

      Pascoe Vale Primary School No.3081 occupies a large site on the corner of Gaffney Street and Cumberland Road. The school complex consists of a two storey brick building built in 1929 and other buildings dating from post-1945.

      The Pascoe Vale Primary School of 1929 is a typical two storey red brick inter-war building, L-shaped in plan, of stripped Neo-Classical design with an entry pavilion placed slightly off-centre and projecting slightly from the wall plane. It has a hipped glazed tile roof with wide eaves and timber lining to the soffit. Windows are six-paned double-hung sashes with a third six-paned hinged highlight above. They are arranged in groups in three across the facade.

      The building is simple, although with a high quality of detailing that includes pilaster and relief brick squares in the spandrels between the ground and first floors. The recessed areas around these relief panels create the impression of engaged piers between the window bays. The entry has a large central arched entrance flanked by narrow square-headed side openings. These three openings are trimmed with varicoloured manganese brick. The recessed entrance doors are ledged and framed with multi-pane glazing at the top and the sills are decorated with bull-nose bricks.

      The rear of the 1929 building has undergone some changes including an extension for a toilet block, fire escape stairs and associated changes to some windows. However, the building is highly intact when viewed from Gaffney Street.

      Other buildings on the site comprise a long pavilion of Light Timber Construction classrooms parallel to Cumberland Road. In 2010 a new building was being constructed between this building and the 1929 building. Next to the 1929 school building, on the west side, is the war memorial, a small obelisk commemorating students who served in conflicts from World War I onwards. The plantings within the grounds include a mix of native and exotic trees.

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Moreland - City of Moreland - North of Bell Street Heritage Study

      Author: Context Pty Ltd
      Year: 2013
      Grading: Local

      Moreland - Moreland City Council: Local Heritage Places Review

      Author: Context Pty Ltd
      Year: 2004
      Grading:

      Moreland - City of Coburg Heritage Conservation & Streetscape Study

      Author: Timothy Hubbard Pty Ltd
      Year: 1991
      Grading: Not Assessed

Public contributions

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