Another of our projects currently on site is the Deanes Nursery:
The construction of this new nursery is progressing well, with the slab finished and the brickwork commenced. It is due to be completed end of August 2011.
The new building will provide modern nursery facilities for 43 children, replacing the aging nursery in the existing school .
The project provides a variety of stimulating spaces for the children. Large windows open out to the courtyard, providing high levels of natural light and ”box windows” create cosy places to play in.
The exterior will be finished in carefully balanced untreated timber and cladding panels in shades of green with red highlights.
John Lyall was interviewed by Local Government News at BSEC, and discussed the future of building schools in the UK:
John Lyall:
“Its a myth that good design costs too much money – it doesnt.”
“BSF was overweighed with bureaucracy – thats where the money has gone – Mr Gove – not on Architects Fees! “
“Its not all bad news. People are talking about prefabricated schools – handled right thats not a bad thing, and certainly starting to work for some primary schools… Whether that will work for more complex schools such as secondary schools i don’t know… the architects, contractors, and teachers and school heads will increasingly demand better design. “
“CABE 10 point design criteria has also helped improve design quality…”
“BSF brought architects and contractors together, and we mustn’t lose that…”
“architects must do more research with contractors – what makes good design and what makes good value – not just cutting costs by cutting area… and we don’t want to go back to the mistakes of the past…”
Click here to see more Local Government News videos from BSEC
John Lyall Architects are a founding practice in the consortium Architects4Education – consisting of three award winning practices who have come together to work collaboratively in the field of education design.
“Inspite of the doom and gloom about the new government’s schools programme, I am optimistic that we can still achieve great new schools, and brilliantly transformed existing schools.”
John Lyall writing in this weeks Building magazine – a timely piece: at BSEC many people were talking about design quality, flat pack schools, and the role of architects in the future of school design…
How to move on without the support of organisations like BECTA and CABE
John Lyall will be speaking on day one of the upcoming BSEC conference:
How can we make sure that we build new or refurbish educational spaces to high standards and lower cost, without the support of key organisations which may no longer exist? Practical tips and suggestions will be discussed.
The Conference runs from 23-24th February 2011, at Londons Excel exhibition centre. For more details of the day one lineup click here.
John will be joined by John Jenner of Greenhill Jenner Architects – fellow practice in our education-specific consortium Architects4Education
We exhibited at last years BSEC, and found it a great way to meet new people in education, and discuss how Architects4Education work collaboratively to design great education buildings. Looking forward to February!
This weeks Remodelling Education Conference and exhibition was a great success, especially if you consider that this was the first year the organisers have run this format. The atmosphere was very positive, despite the current uncertainties over funding for schools projects, with a lot of talk about new opportunities. The Architects4Education stand was very busy and we talked to a lot of people interested in our track record and collaborative working. The conference was also a good platform for us to show our ability to create high quality learning environments through remodelling and refurbishment as well as new buildings.
A particularly relevant project to the theme of remodelling was Northbury School, designed by Greenhill Jenner. In July this year the project was “Highly Commended” by the British Council for School Environments in the category of Best School Extension, Refurbishment or Remodel, and also won a 2010 RIBA award.
A Case Study in Remodelling: Northbury School
Click here to open a pdf version of the case study.
Architects4Education will be exhibiting at next weeks Remodelling Education Conference in Manchester, on 13th and 14th September.
Come along to stand number 9 to see what we do!
The conference is a dedicated platform for discussing reuse and refurbishment in existing education spaces. Given the current economic climate the conference is perfectly timed, and we look forward to engaging in the debate! Architects4Education have a wide range of experience in refurbishing schools, as well as building new.
Northbury School is a good example of adding to an existing school, which in July this year was “Highly Commended” by the British Council for School Environments in the category of Best School Extension, Refurbishment or Remodel. Click here to go to the A4E website for more information.
Architects4Education comprises of John Lyall Architects, Greenhill Jenner, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and Dr Chris French. Projects are designed in collaboration and with peer review, meaning that design quality is kept consistently high. Top level management maintain a close involvement through all stages of the project, and together we offer the resources of a larger company, but with the flexibility and approachability of a smaller practice.
John Lyall Architects have been working on a number of really interesting schools projects in Essex, not least our work with Deanes Secondary School and Glenwood Special Needs School:
Glenwood Deanes School
The two schools were to come together within a new co-located building, making state of the art facilities available for both schools as well as the local community. JLA worked very closely with the two head teachers – and their teachers and governers - to squeeze all of the new facilities onto a very tight site. The resulting design provides clear movement between spaces, but also promotes views and communication between the students of both schools. Double height spaces, a gallery-cafe and break out spaces built on this. The schools really embraced the idea of co-location as a means to teach the pupils of both schools about one another and to foster greater engagement. It is exciting that our design had the potential for social as well as curriculum benefits.
Work was progressing well, and when it reached outline business case back in May all parties were very happy with the scheme. Most importantly the schools were excited to move to the next stage… but then came the general election! As with all other Building Schools for the Future projects, Deanes and Glenwood have been put on hold, pending a full review by the government.
Meanwhile our other project for the same site – Deanes Nursery – continues apace. Entirely separate from BSF, this new 43-place nursery received planning in early July, and is now out to tender. It is due to start construction in Autumn 2010, and will open in March 2011.
Deanes Nursery
Local newspaper The Echo wrote an article recently describing the features of the BSF projects and how important they are to the schools; it also explains how the nursery will work:
