Description

It is important to understand the physical context of Sheerness which is a peninsula isolated from the south-east mainland and with only very few routes helping to bring life and commercial activity to this region. As a consequence the town suffers from high levels of urban deprivation and much child poverty. As a response to this unusual situation, government in collaboration with the North Kent Architecture Centre developed a brief for a new community building which was to be a focus for children and families in the area. The facilities included a family services centre with a children’s activity room, a toy library and an SEN room, a primary healthcare pavilion with consulting rooms for local people, and a 50 place nursery. Offices for the government’s ‘Sure Start’ programme were to be housed in a separate block, with additional community spaces for hire. This complex schedule required a clever architectural response incorporating internal security, clear organisation and sophisticated architectural space making; the trick was to balance security with a welcoming open atmosphere.

Architype’s planning strategy for the project was to ensure that a clear functional separation was maintained between the various users within the overall framework of a single relaxed community which the architects describe as a ‘village’. Distinct uses within the scheme are expressed pavilions, their exteriors painted with warm pastel colours that imprint the building beacon-like on the surrounding landscape. Acting like an arrangement of toy bricks covered over by a single roof, courtyards are formed between the blocks (or pavilions) which are used as the functional circulation routes and informal social areas. According to the designers, the success of the building lies in the pleasant flow between larger spaces and smaller more intimate spaces, inducing users and visitors alike to feel comfortable and at home.

A single shared entrance leads into the circulation spaces. As you move through between the brightly painted external walls of the pavilions, to the calmer colours of the nursery areas, the natural ventilation and generosity of daylight, both top-light and side-light, blurs the distinction between inside and outside. The roof is described as a ‘table roof’ sliding lightly over the pavilions, shifted off-axis to make the spaces beneath more dynamic, creating dramatic angular perspectives. Light is one of the great qualities of this area, and it is used within the building as an important modulating device, integral to the perception of space. It floods through rooflights, sometimes angular, sometimes diffused, playfully reflecting off the coloured walls. The interior responds differently to bright sunny days and to overcast conditions. A smattering of coloured glass lights up unexpected corners. Finally, mention should be made of the masonry construction, revealed through an exposed panel showing the Planziegel solid clay wall construction. This system reduces cement usage without the need for additional insulation. Lime render and plaster onto the blockwork forms a healthy and breathing construction; this is one of the first time it has been used in the UK, a suitably optimistic detail which sets a caring tone for the future users of this complex structure.

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Originally published in: Mark Dudek, Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2015.