Clapham Manor Primary School

Belmont Road, London, United Kingdom

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Clapham Manor Primary School

Belmont Road, London, United Kingdom

Firm

dRMM Architects

Type

Educational › Elementary School

YEAR

2009

dRMM’s
intervention into a Victorian Board School, completed July 2009. A
polychromatic extension inserted into a tight urban context offers the school a
new identity, much-needed learning spaces and an organisational hub, while
maximising play space.

Clapham Manor Primary School had become
a victim of its own success; pupil numbers had grown, placing considerable
pressure on successful delivery of curriculum within the restrictions of the
original building. dRMM was asked to consider the provision of additional
learning spaces within the site that would support both learning and play. The
new wing is conceived as a freestanding addition that plugs into the Victorian
Board School, allowing the school to work as a single entity.

The new wing is pulled away from
the gable wall to sit parallel with the neighbouring Odd Fellows Hall. The
resultant interstitial space establishes a formal entrance into the school - a
triple height transparent atrium that separates new and old. A glazed lift and
stairs that scissor overhead connect four new storeys within the height of 3
Victorian levels.

The
architectural intent was to create a building that would sit shoulder to
shoulder with two strong brick examples. The glass façade is inspired by mid 20
century schools, which utilised curtain walling to create bright and airy
teaching spaces. The formal grid that typically defines curtain walling is
replaced here by an offset grid to provide an expression more appropriate for a
primary school, inside and out.

The building appears without scale
as the façade conceals clues to storey heights - it is contextualised through
colour rather than composition. The façade is a polychromatic loop of colour
that shifts as it moves around the building. The contextual brick colours
inform the rich reds and yellows along Stonhouse Street. The colour spectrum
shifts into greens as the building emerges on the playground side, echoing soft
landscaping below, and finally into vibrant sky blues.

In addition to new classrooms,
pupils benefit from spaces for performance, music, breakout learning and a
medical room. Staff share a resource room, copy facilities, administration, and
offices. The informal, social spaces that connect the classrooms are vibrant
and stimulating, eliminating corridors and offering visual transparency.

The facade works doubly hard to
define not only the exterior but the interior. The coloured glass panels of the
exterior are upholstered on the inside, allowing opportunities for the display
and presentation of
pupils’ work. The dynamic quality of the triple aspect classrooms is further
heightened by the window composition. Solid, fritted and clear panels at
varying heights create framed views of the urban landscape for all ages.