Description

Set in an isolated semi-rural location, this school takes as its three defining constraints firstly the need to integrate a significant autistic unit into the functioning of the main primary school plan, secondly the requirement to create a defensive building which would resist the possibility of vandalism outside school hours, and thirdly to build economically and robustly without sacrificing architectural quality. These constraints have not only been addressed here, but the end result is a building which has a strong and positive civic presence and a highly efficient form.

The single-storey plan is tightly contained around an internal courtyard garden which forms a wing of classrooms orientated to the southwest sunshine and an autistic unit contained on the southeast corner. The main entrance, administration and multi-purpose hall are on the northwest (roadside) of the plan. Each classroom has its own access out to the playing fields at the back. Circulation wraps around the inside courtyard on three sides, connecting the classrooms and the autistic unit to the main entrance. According to the designers, this courtyard is the main focus for the school, which over time will grow rich with flowers, plants, trees, bird and insect life. Each classroom also benefits from its own mini courtyard on the outer perimeter of the plan, with teaching areas orientated southeast or southwest. In each of the school classrooms, there is a ‘den,’ a unique study carrel, which allows for individual and small group study when appropriate. There are also dedicated play corners and attached changing areas which give the classrooms their own self-contained feel, like an individual school within a school. The autistic unit has its own separate courtyard play area accessible directly from the teaching areas. This all-weather play area, with its outdoor toy store, connects these spaces directly into the central courtyard. There is a sense of spatial layering here which has been carefully manipulated to maintain the client’s desire for integration. The building maintains a subtle balance between control and democratic open movement. For example the grouping of principal’s office, staff room and the library is deliberately organised to monitor the entrance/reception area. Parents wait to collect their children in the entrance courtyard, which is separated from the bus and car set-down area by the perimeter fence which is in turn embraced by the flanks of the building so that it feels like an integral part of the architecture rather than an afterthought.

Wherever possible natural materials have been used, red brick around the base of the walls, timber windows, terracotta window sills, birch plywood paneling with a copper-coated roof which aid the visual and tactile understanding children have for their environment. The main external wall finish is rendered blockwork which gives the building a sculptural quality. This effect is enhanced by the variegated roof-scape, which undulates across the flat landscape giving the interiors a diverse spatial quality.

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