St Mary’s Cathedral College, Sydney has officially opened the doors to its new vertical campus on William Street marking a transformative moment for Catholic education in the city.
The multi-storey campus, housed in a heritage-listed building just minutes from St Mary’s Cathedral, signals the College’s evolution into a dual-campus, K-12 co-educational school, and a bold step into the future of urban learning.
Principal Kerrie McDiarmid said the decision to establish a second campus was driven by both growth and opportunity.
“As the college expands, we also want to expand our offering to students all across Sydney,” Mrs McDiarmid said. “With the move to K-12 and co-education, having additional space to facilitate that was really important.”
“We are a systemic Catholic school for everybody in the heart of the city, and now our students are really fortunate to have unique state-of-the-art, to complement our innovative learning. ”
A vertical school for contemporary learning
The William Street campus is a true vertical school, an innovative model increasingly seen in global cities where space is at a premium. Beyond its architecture, the building has been designed to bridge the gap between school and post-school pathways.
“The new building offers a number of purpose-designed, innovative spaces that empower students to experience learning in new and inspiring ways,” Mrs McDiarmid said.
Central to the campus is a dynamic performance and creative arts space, reflecting the College’s strong tradition in music and performance. Flexible learning areas can open and close to accommodate collaboration, while students will have access to virtual and augmented reality technologies and new visual arts studios.
A dedicated partnership hub, the Emmaus Room, will host industry professionals, tertiary institutions and community organisations in residence.
“They will be companions on a journey with our students, walking with them so that they can see what learning can bring them now and where it can take them in the future,” Mrs McDiarmid said.
The campus will also house a unique café space, expanding into authentic hospitality and social justice initiatives. Senior hospitality students will have opportunities to run restaurant takeovers and community outreach programs, embedding vocational education in real-world contexts.
“For us, this space presents an opportunity where we can provide outreach,” she said. “It allows students to bring their learning to life in an authentic way.”
Designed with purpose
The building’s design reflects the College’s integrated learning approach, enabling students to move through phases of empathy, collaboration and industry partnership within purpose-built spaces.
“It is a flexible learning environment,” Mrs McDiarmid said. “The building facilitates that pedagogical approach.”
While the campus looks to the future, its foundations are respectful of the past. Careful attention was paid to preserving heritage elements, including original glass bricks and the building’s staircase.
During construction, the discovery of a convict-era garden and colonial artefacts beneath the former car park brought history vividly to life. Work paused as archaeologists investigated the site, an interruption that became a powerful learning moment.
“It caused the building to stop, but it actually allowed learning to happen,” Mrs McDiarmid said.
One community, three Schools
As St Mary’s Cathedral College embarks on this new chapter, Mrs McDiarmid said maintaining a strong sense of unity remains paramount.
With the College recently moving to a three-school model, the William Street campus will largely serve the Senior School, while the original campus will cater for the Junior (K-Year 4) and Middle (Years 5-8) Schools.
“It allows us to tailor learning to those experiences but at the same time it’s really important that even though we are three schools, we are one community,” Mrs McDiarmid said.
Her hope for students walking through the doors of the William Street campus is simple but ambitious:
“We want our students to see a bright, future-focused space that empowers them. By connecting them with purposeful, authentic learning today, we’re giving them the confidence to be ambitious about tomorrow.”