What Leading a Major School Build Taught Me – Jennifer Oaten
This week I stood in the foyer of our new Cultural Centre and watched our students walk through for the first time. Year 12s through to Year 5s and our staff, all of them moving through a space that did not exist two years ago. I felt something I did not expect. Not pride, exactly. More like relief, and gratitude, and a quiet kind of wonder about what we have achieved.
This blog is not about the building. It is about what it takes to see something this complex through to completion, and what it teaches you along the way. I have felt all the emotions, excitement, frustration, exhaustion, concern, uncertainty and in the last few days pure joy seeing our students’ faces.
Where It Began
The idea for a dedicated Performing Arts space emerged from our Master Planning process in 2019. Our community spoke, and the message was consistent. Students needed a performance space. Our existing theatre, built in the 1980s, could not hold a year group. Music evenings and productions occupied McDonald Hall or external venues, creating constant pressure on other programs especially our sports programs.
A space like this had been discussed in previous years but had not gone forward. If we were going to do it, we needed to do it well. I was a relatively newly appointed Principal when this project was first conceived. I had led many things in schools, but nothing of this scope.
"I was really impressed by the new Cultural Centre. The building is beautiful and feels like an exciting addition to the school. My favourite part was definitely the main theatre. As a Year 12 student, it was pretty surreal standing there and imagining our graduation on that stage later this year. I think the Cultural Centre is going to become a really special part of the school.”
Before a Sod Was Turned
People tend to think of a building project as beginning with construction. It does not. The sod was turned in September 2024, but this project began years earlier, in community workshops, planning documents, and a Master Plan that required its own approvals before anything else could move.
What I did not fully appreciate at the start was how much of this project would happen before anything was visible. Council submissions, Mercy Education approvals, a redesign, a carpark, a loan, a public art commission. Years of work with nothing to show a parent who asked how the build was going.
Most people had no idea how much had already happened before a crane appeared on site. This project began in 2019, not 2024.
“Wow, it is really big and comfortable” , “The lights above us remind me of the stars” , “I am excited to spend time in here” , “Feels like one of those really fancy theatres in the city"
When the Numbers Came Back
The original design was everything we had hoped for. Then the costings arrived, and the figure was not just over budget, it was well over. Well beyond what was possible.
Walking away was never genuinely on the table. Our community needed this space. But redesigning at additional cost, in an environment where construction prices were moving constantly, required patience I had not fully anticipated. Then COVID arrived, adding uncertainty that nobody could have predicted. Timelines moved. Costs shifted again.
Catherine McAuley was bold and brave. We needed to be too.
I was often the only woman in the room during this period, meetings with architects, builders and consultants, and I learned to trust my instincts and to keep asking questions. That turned out to be one of the more important things I did.
Holding the Line on What Mattered
Some decisions during a major build are logistical. Others are something else entirely.
There was pressure at various points to remove established trees on the site. I was not willing to accept that without exhausting every alternative. The trees connect the campus to its history, and losing them would have changed the feel of what we were building in ways that no amount of good architecture could recover. We found a way to keep most of them and have had a significant landscape plan to replace those we could not retain.
The decision to preserve the original theatre and design the new building to blend with the original building and the convent was not primarily a design call. It was a values call. This College was founded by the Sisters of Mercy, and the original spaces are part of that story. Any building we put on this site needed to honour that.
The furniture, the finishes, the overall aesthetic, these were also deliberate. Simple, stylish, minimalist. Many of the colours connect with those from the original building. We were trying to create spaces that feel calm, purposeful and flexible, so that is a space that every student wants to spend time in.
The Moments That Stayed With Me
During the construction process, there have been moments I will not forget.
Standing on stage for the first time and looking up at the theatre ceiling, thinking I hope our students love this as much as I do. Walking into the green room and feeling the calm of it, the colour, the light that creates a sense of calm before going on stage. A text message from a staff member saying she loved the brass balustrades in the theatre, that they were stunning and elevated the whole experience.
Seeing the installed public artwork, created by artist Ellen Norrish (Class of 2010), which connects this building to everything that came before it, to the original people of this place, to the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy, to the decades of students who studied and grew here. This story is etched into the tiles. This building, without that thread of history, would have less impact.
What Long Projects Teach You
The workload of a major build is relentless. I was naive in thinking it would ease once construction started. The decisions are constant, and that sits on top of everything else a school requires each day.
What carried us through was the team. Tome Nunes, our Project Manager (TPM) brought expertise and calm to situations that could easily have become chaotic. Ed Hicks, our architect (Architectus), brought creativity and flexibility when we needed to rethink the design. Our Builders (PS Structures) brought skill and craftsmanship to the development. Tim Stewart , our Director of Corporate Services, was by my side for every significant decision throughout this project. Twenty-two months from sod turning to completion is efficient for a build of this scale, and that did not happen by accident.
I am a better leader for having done this. More patient with complexity. More willing to seek advice. More honest about what I know and what I do not. And genuinely humbled by how much I learned along the way.
A Note of Gratitude
This building would not exist without many people. Our community, which supported the vision from the beginning. Our Foundation Committee and donors, whose generosity makes such a difference through our Take a Seat Campaign. The staff who kept teaching and learning as the priority, while the work happened around them.
Standing in the completed Cultural Centre, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude, relief, and pride because, together, we persevered through every obstacle to create something that will serve our community for generations. I feel humbled by how much I learned along the way and how the experience stretched me professionally and personally. It had been promised to the College for many years, and finally our team have been able to deliver this wonderful space.
I cannot wait to welcome guests to our Opening Night, Alumni Celebration and Community Event.
- campus development, Catholic education leadership, Cultural Centre project, Featured, heritage and values, major school build, performing arts facilities, principal reflections, Santa Maria College, school leadership, school master planning
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
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