Empathise and engage

If there’s one thing we’ve learned makes better buildings, it’s empathy. Architecture never happens in isolation—and simply by being interested and engaged, we’ve found it’s possible to open up the conversations that connect a scheme to its clients and community.

Weconstraints

We believe that the more constraints there are, the better the architecture. If there aren’t any constraints, we create them. Challenging sites, existing buildings and complex briefs almost always present incredible opportunities for great design.

Passive future

To limit our environmental impact, we start with what is already there. By manipulating the form and fabric of a building—whether new or existing—we can work with the existing conditions of topography, light and orientation, and harness the natural energy sources offered by air, ground and water.

Social detail

If a site’s constraints guide the bigger design decisions, then it’s empathy that informs the smaller, social details. These details frame the human narratives that aren’t included in the brief, anticipating specific moments in the users’ lives.

Mud on our boots

Good architecture is as much about what happens on the building site as it is about what’s on the drawing board. By working alongside contractors as well as clients we can ring-fence the ideas and details that matter, championing quality and sustainability throughout construction.

Kentish Town Primary
WorkStudioActivityNewsContact
Curl la Tourelle Head
Work
  • Kentish Town Primary

  • Camden, London

Client
  • London Borough of Camden

Awards
  • Camden Design Award 2004 Winner

Kentish Town School is a mainstream Primary School with several pupils with physical disabilities and a reputation for its work with inclusion. The school was housed in three separate buildings, on a restricted site on the edge of a conservation area. Developing from an original brief to look at access for children with mobility problems, a masterplan was developed to make the school fully inclusive for all its pupils, realised over five years

Phase A installed hygiene facilities in all buildings. Phase B included alterations to classrooms allowing full access to the school curriculum for children with disabilities and a new therapy suite to solve the problem of lost curriculum time for children travelling elsewhere for therapy. Phase C is an extension joining two existing parts of the school. A glazed entrance leads to the reception area and state-of-the-art ICT and SENco suites. This forms the new “heart” of the school. A lift gives access to a mezzanine which provides offices and rooms for one-to-one teaching. A robust timber pergola unifies the appearance of the school from the street and connects the entrance to a covered play area.

The warm stock bricks and steeply pitched slate roof of the extension resonate with the materials of the Victorian building, whilst being contemporary in design. A bold addition links the original building with the infant block and a new school entrance is created between them, with a dramatic red canopy floating over. The same bricks are used for a new wall that wraps around the entrance as a curved plane, screening the south-facing 70’s block as it transforms into a timber pergola. The pergola in turn then transforms into a large canopy, under which a plane of grass-green safe play surface mimics a lawn. The pergola is lit at night, dramatically accentuating the twin posts that appear to float along the ramp wall. Internally, natural light is used to unify the spaces, dramatising the transition between new and old and lighting the ICT suite via a curved rooflight washing over the curved wall.

Sustainability considerations included the use of recyclable materials (brick, slate, timber); highly levels of insulation, natural ventilation and lighting, and ecological paint throughout.
The development reflects the pride the school has in its inclusive facilities and ethos, and exemplifies Camden’s approach to community, the environment and access to learning.

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