The new MLC Junior School complex is a contemporary style school employing the principles of Rudolf Steiner’s approach to education. As the Landscape Architecture consultant, McGregor Coxall designed the external areas as a sequence of gardens and multi-use courts stepping between the mid and lower levels of the building. Through the use of materials and vivid colour, play spaces with visual variety have been created to facilitate outdoor learning and promote learning through exploration. The play spaces are shaded and enclosed by large deciduous trees which also provide summer shading to the building and allow winter sun to penetrate the learning studios. Plant species were selected from the local pre-existing forest communities to enhance the site’s biodiversity. First flush roof and pavement water from the site is sent directly to a biotope where it is filtered under low flow conditions and used to animate the play spaces in a rain event.