Facilities

The historic Main Campus at Spring Hill is home to the award-winning Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre and Elizabeth Jameson Research Learning Centre, a 25-metre suspended swimming pool, a theatre and sports centre.

The School owns and operates a dedicated outdoor education campus—Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre is located near Imbil, two hours north of Brisbane. The campus provides exceptional facilities for Outdoor Education, and is home to the Dorothy Hill Observatory, an extraordinary learning asset. The School also maintains a campus located in Fig Tree Pocket that comprises 13 hectares of playing fields and offers opportunities for students to participate in environmental initiatives.

Main Campus—Spring Hill

The School’s Main Campus is situated in Spring Hill, on the edge of Brisbane’s CBD.

From the historic Main Building (opened in 1884) to state-of-the-art facilities such as the Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre and the Elizabeth Jameson Research Learning Centre, the Main Campus reflects Girls Grammar’s unique history in the development of girls’ education in Australia.

The Science Learning Centre is the School’s newest building, opened in October 2020 by His Excellency, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC. The building’s seven storeys offer dedicated floors and specialised equipment for each scientific discipline (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Junior Science). It also provides five new general learning classrooms, a generous Sport and Health and Physical Education space, and a multi-function space that seats up to 600 guests.

The $17.4m Research Learning Centre, opened in March 2015 by His Excellency, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, boasts the Beanland Memorial Library—offering more than 55 000 resources—in addition to flexible, contemporary learning spaces. In honour of the extraordinary contribution of Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s former Chair of the Board of Trustees and alumna, Ms Elizabeth Jameson (1982), the School officially named the Elizabeth Jameson Research Learning Centre in April 2019.

The $25m, six-level Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre opened in 2007, uniting Art, Music, Drama and Technology in one facility. Named in honour of Dr Cherrell Hirst AO (1963), past student and former Chair of the Board of Trustees (1996 to 2006), the Centre has won several awards, including the prestigious Sir Zelman Cowan Award for public architecture.

Additional Main Campus facilities include a 25-metre suspended swimming pool, the Gehrmann Theatre and the McCrae Grassie Sports Centre. The grounds are configured to support ease of access and movement between classes, and wireless facilities ensure seamless connectivity across the campus.

Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre

The Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre (Marrapatta), opened in 1987, is the School’s Outdoor Education facility.

Located in the Mary Valley near Imbil, approximately two hours north of Brisbane, Marrapatta was established to provide girls with important educational experiences outside the classroom, encouraging them to connect and belong, develop an assured sense of self and appreciate the natural world.

Marrapatta is also home to the Dorothy Hill Observatory—opened in 2017—an extraordinary learning asset comprising a remotely operated observatory and telescopes. The Observatory, named in honour of pioneering scientist and past student, Professor Dorothy Hill (1924), provides learning opportunities across the curriculum, from Junior Science and Physics to Mathematics, Information Technology and Visual Art.

The name ‘Marrapatta’ is taken from the School’s war cry, and the centre is a permanent memorial to the lives of former staff member, Mr John Stamford, his wife Janelle and students Helen Gahan and Jillian Skaines, who lost their lives in a bus accident at Christmas Creek in 1979.

Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre

Girls Grammar’s third campus, Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre (Rangakarra), was acquired in 2013. The 13-hectare site offers two cricket ovals and two fields (which can be configured to create six fields), parkland, and a clubhouse and deck.

Located 12 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD in Fig Tree Pocket, Rangakarra provides girls with their home playing fields for sports such as hockey, cricket and touch, and is also used for training sessions and environmental initiatives such as the Grammar Goes Green rehabilitation project.

Since 2017, Rangakarra has been the Brisbane Roar FC Women’s Squad’s home training ground. Brisbane Roar coaching staff and squad members also mentor and work with students to develop their football skills.

The site was officially named Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre on 23 May 2015, and the Main Field renamed the Daphne Welch (1949) Oval in honour of past student and sporting legend Mrs Daphne Pirie MBE, AO. In 2018, the Lower Oval was renamed the Pauline Harvey-Short (1971) Oval, in honour of long-serving staff member, and past student, Mrs Pauline Harvey-Short OAM.