Located within an area that is contained by dense low rise housing the site offers no opportunity for external break out space at ground level. This means that all of the outdoor teaching and recreational spaces have to be accommodated at the upper levels.
While the context of the site on three sides consists of terraced Victorian housing the fourth side is dominated by the industrial aesthetic associated with Lots Road Power Station, the volume of which provides a strong edifice against which to set the new building. FCB studios architectural response features a school that is focused around three subject related “houses” with the main emphasis being on the area of educational specialism of the Sciences.
In order to overcome the confined nature of the site we have tried to create a unified treatment at ground level so that there is a seamless carpet of paving throughout the internal and external spaces.
Outdoor play and teaching space is delivered at roof top level throughout the provision of Multi Use Games Courts and break out spaces. The landscape response has been focused around the softening of what will inevitably be hard outdoor rooms. Due to the lack of planting opportunities at ground level, new planting concepts and opportunities have had to be explored on the upper terraces, on the roofs and on the walls. Each roof top enclosure is given a different theme or character in order to establish a sense of variety. Raised planters provide an opportunity to introduce shrubs and small trees while trellises and wire supports allow the elevation to be clothed in foliage.
Extensive green roofs add to the potential to raise the ecological profile of the site. Within the upper terraces there is a stronger emphasis on providing facilities for the pupils to develop their own planting with some beds acting as allotment beds. In addition sustainable technologies have been explored, specifically the use of condensation as a means of sustaining planting.
