ST MATTHEW ACADEMY
reflecting the business and enterprise specialism, the architectural language echoes office design
Sponsored by the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark and the De La Salle Brothers, the St Matthew Academy for Business and Enterprise in Lewisham has replaced under-performing and run-down primary and secondary schools. The site is located in the Blackheath Conservation Area and bisected by a road. The former secondary school occupied a sloping site to the east, whereas the primary school was situated to the west, adjacent to the campus of Christ the King Sixth Form College. After determining that it was
Previous page_ A delicate
galvanised steel loggia overlooks the playground Above_ The
triple-height central hall is the academy’s set-piece space Right_ The media suite, typical of the light airy classroom environment
impracticable to refurbish the existing secondary school, ArchitecturePLB developed the academy on the playing fields framed by the previous buildings. Since the future head teacher was still to be appointed, Valerie Bragg of project manager 3e’s educational consultancy prepared the brief for the new academy. Having worked on Bexley Academy, Bragg was familiar with the academy building process and the latest government thinking in the Building Schools for the Future programme. The resulting brief emphasised the need to promote collaborative and personalised
learning. Architecturally, the principal consequence was the call for 25 per cent of generic and programmed teaching spaces to be open. This allowed for a range of autonomous, shared and project-based learning, and provided a focus for pastoral groups. In response, ArchitecturePLB
organised the academy into two parallel wings, framing the main hall and a large courtyard that acts as an outdoor extension for larger gatherings. To the south, a three-storey wing has two floors of classrooms sitting above the entrance, restaurant and library, whereas to the north a two-storey block accommodates specialist facilities for science, art, music and drama, and the all-important media suite. The primary school is attached to the west end of the specialist-teaching wing and a shared staff room is located between the two schools. The sports hall runs north from the east end, and a small nursery, physically separate from the main building, is located to the west of the teaching wing. Reflecting the desired openness and the ‘business and enterprise’ specialism, the architectural
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