Studio Architects: HALL/CLASSROOM EXTENSION

This multi-purpose activity Hall and Classroom was designed to replace temporary accommodation and extend the 1970s system-built school.

It was determined to site the Hall, the largest building on the site, at the end of a new Link running south from the existing single-storey school. This provides access to a new Classroom with outdoor teaching spaces framed by the new Hall and existing school. The Link terminates at a new entrance with kitchen and toilet facilities which, with the Hall, can be separated from the School when used by community groups.

The Hall provides a 140m² clear space with storage off for PE equipment. The Hall will be available for community use, offering activities such as dance, low-level aerobics and judo.

The simple additive form of the Hall, Classroom and secondary accommodation creates a distinct group yet serves to complete the extended school.

Materials: the walls are of sawn-finish Western Red Cedar horizontal boarding left to weather to a natural grey, above a stone plinth illustrating the site fall towards the Hall. All roofs have a pre-patinated zinc sheet finish. Internally, the steel portal structural frame of the Hall is expressed and the timber-framed infill is faced with birch plywood panelling flush with the steel frame.