Description

At Evelyn Grace Academy the school grounds were designed with great care
(landscape design by Gross Max Landscape Architects). The school sits on a tight
urban site, pinned between two roads. The building itself bears many of the Zaha
Hadid Architects hallmarks in its striking isometric architecture; in line with
its academy status, the school’s outward appearance seeks to set aspirations
high. One of its most striking features is the running track that bisects the
site and carves its way through the building. The building brings together four
smaller schools on to one site. The facilities needed as such for the enlarged
school are increased, putting more pressure on how the site is used. The
solution is elegant and well-resolved. The building cuts across the site as a
shallow Z-shape with single-storey elements running perpendicular to this,
forming bookends at either end of the site. Enclosed within these arms, facing
onto the street fronts are sports and multi-use pitches. The aforementioned
running track cuts from one side of the site to the other. The track doubles as
the main entrance path, providing a sense of direction and perhaps urgency to
those arriving at the school. The external space is not wholly dedicated to
sports provision. Steps flow up the sloping geometry of the school, forming
terraces and play spaces at roof level whilst a small horticulture garden
occupies the southern corner of the site. Through careful planning, the site’s
potential has been maximised.

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Originally published in: Prue Chiles (ed.), Leo Care, Howard Evans, Anna Holder, Claire Kemp, Building Schools: Key Issues for Contemporary Design, Birkhäuser, 2015.