January 2010

Column by Michál Cohen, Director of architecture practice Walters and Cohen:
www.waltersandcohen.com

A new school can be instrumental in transforming the local community, and being able to design a number of key educational buildings across a whole borough is an architect’s dream. Such an opportunity provides scope to implement a bold vision for schools in the 21st century and a sustainable framework for local regeneration.
The London Borough of Havering’s (LBH) school modernisation programme aims to meet community needs in line with its growth strategy. Walters and Cohen has been working with LBH on designs for four primary schools as well as a masterplan for a Learning Village under an Office of Government Commerce (OGC) framework the Council has with EC Harris. Of the four primaries, two are new build, and the others are refurbishment and remodelling projects with an element of new build. Elm Park School and Hylands School will be some of the first new schools in Havering for almost 30 years. The development of The Harold Hill Learning Village comprises of four learning establishments: the new Drapers’ Academy, Pyrgo Priory Primary School (including a Children’s Centre), Dycorts Special Educational Needs School and Havering Further Education College. The Headteachers involved have been working together to create a shared vision for the schools. Each Head is aware of the design response for the other schools and why various design decisions have been made, which has brought benefits of trust and transparency to the process.
These projects have provided Walters and Cohen with the opportunity of working with the client and stakeholders to create cohesive spaces that relate to one another, achieving a distinct and consistent identity across the LBH. In addition, the flexible, future-proofed spaces will modernise education across the borough with long-term benefits for local young people. The basis for our designs for LBH is the exemplar school we designed for the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) in 2003. This model responds to the requirements of personalised learning, and includes flexible, shared spaces that enable a variety of pedagogies
to take place. The exemplar also provides the opportunity for future adaptability, so that schools can respond to changing educational requirements over time. This innovative scheme has informed a generation of schools around the country and has proved adaptable for a variety of sites and for the
different demands of various
clients. In each case, the design for any given school is a direct response to the site and the community that particular school serves.
We have been able to include a key innovation of the exemplar design into each of the four primary schools, even in the refurbishment projects to some extent: the central ‘heart’ layout gives a great resource, a shared ‘core’ space that can be used in any way that suits that school and its users, for example circulation, creative learning, library, wet space, performance and display. This provides cohesive and flexible learning spaces that can adapt over time and is an ideal, informal space to stimulate children’s learning, allowing for different methods of teaching and learning as well as community events as required. Both of the new build schools are two-storey responses to their sites.
Environmentally, the benefit of a joined-up integrated strategy means that we are able to consider more ambitious sustainability responses when looking for appropriate renewable technologies.
The long-term benefit of working across one borough, like Havering, is that the area gains its own unique and vibrant identity, which can attract new settlers to the area. As architects, we have gained a particularly in-depth understanding of the borough, the people, its history, geography and ambitions for the future, as well as building strong relationships with the client, the schools, community and consultants working in the area. Over time, this understanding can only improve what we design, and working with a bold vision for an area is also hugely rewarding in architectural terms.