Sydney Russell School

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Sydney Russell School

Type

Educational › Elementary School Other

SIZE

1,000,000 +

BUDGET

$10M - 50M

Sydney Russell School is a secondary school of circa 1500 pupils located on the edge of Parsloes Park. The school enjoys an unprecedented position by the Park which also provides a significant sports and recreational facility.

Sprunt was appointed as the architects and landscape architects to transform and remodel this sample school as part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham BSF Bid.

Designed to concept stage we created a facility which will help to raise attainment by replacing poor learning environments, creating flexible and adaptable spaces and making full use of state of the art technologies.

We had to overcome a number of important issues such as:
. No clear School entrance,
. Vehicular, pedestrian and service access and car parking are not sufficiently differentiated,
. Circulation between buildings unclear,
. The courtyard, which is at the heart of the school, required better definition and variety,
. The approach to the school along Parsloes Avenue and the long view towards it across the park are unattractive with poor boundary definition,
. The link between the school and external playing fields weak.

The original school, which was built in 1926, has a strong form that gives the school its identity. It has however been compromised at the front with the addition of a children's centre and the proximity of the school’s sports hall.