Following the recent success in the RIBA awards St Mary Magdalene receives further commendation by the British Council for School Environments. The Academy occupies a tight urban site; working closely with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios we developed a response to external environment that complements the architectural experience, combining education and play in a series of rich and varied spaces.

The concept begins at the entrance where the school engages generously with the public realm to welcome pupils into the Academy. The perimeter of the building blends into to the boundary detail to hold the site securely whilst preserving an open aspect. Level changes across the site have been carefully managed to maximise play space and enable the planted landscape to thread though the site and into the streetscape. Our work in developing use of recycled substrates and planting techniques for living roofs has resulted in a series of roofscapes that have combined immediate vegetation at some levels with dedicated roofs for pioneering species on the inaccessible spaces high above the sports halls. A key element of this strategy was the provision of a fully accessible teaching space treated to promote understanding of these techniques and establish a new form of ecology garden for the school.