Project Description

Café Caterina has transformed a previously dark and neglected undercroft into a light-filled canteen and social hub at the heart of San Sisto College. Custom-designed seating lends the interior a considered, collegiate character, while a new acoustic batten ceiling tempers the energy of a busy café environment, ensuring the space is as comfortable as it is welcoming.

The café operates as a university-style walk-through environment, connected seamlessly to an adjoining seating area — encouraging movement, informal interaction, and a sense of openness rarely found in a school canteen setting. Within this, a dedicated space has been created for Year 12 students, giving the college's senior cohort a place of their own to gather and unwind, distinct from the general flow of the café.

Planting continues from adjacent Cecilia Square into the café interior, maintaining a botanical thread that unifies the two spaces and reinforces the sense of moving from an outdoor room into an indoor one without interruption.

The result is a space that feels closer to a contemporary café precinct than a traditional school canteen — light, calm, and considered, while still functioning at the pace a busy college environment demands. Café Caterina demonstrates how thoughtful design can elevate an everyday, functional space into somewhere students genuinely want to spend time.