LEARNING FROM EDUCATION

Today, the Fremantle-based architecture practice EHDO is working on the first Nightingale Housing project outside of Melbourne and is drawing on the many lessons it learned while designing and delivering the Beehive Montessori School project. The firm was founded by rammed earth pioneer and artist Giles Hohnen in the 1970s, but is now owned and run by co-directors Dimitri Kapetas and Dave Delahunty.

Rhonda Sheehan is the principal of Beehive, which is based in the outer Perth suburb of Mosman Park. She approached the practice after experiencing one of Hohnen’s earlier projects. “I saw a beautiful rammed earth winery in Margaret River and I felt a sense of peace and a connection to the earth,” Sheehan recalls. “I wanted our school to feel like that too. I immediately asked who had designed it, and was told Giles Hohnen.

“Before long, he was sitting across the desk from me asking me what Montessori was all about, asking for books, asking if he could watch the childrenSheehan explained to Hohnen that she wanted a place where the community could come together, to support each other, chat and become part of the Beehive family.