ROTHERHITHE PRIMARY SCHOOL, LONDON 15
ROTHERHITHE PRIMARY SCHOOL SOUTHWARK, LONDON
Learning from the past
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios designed a replacement primary school in south London which builds on the features created over time in its predecessor, and celebrates its mixed community. Jayne Dowle reports
W
hen Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) won the competition to replace and
expand Rotherhithe Primary School in south London in 2017, the existing school buildings had reached the end of their life. They were cold in winter and overheated in summer, draughty and with failing services – typical of schools built more than 50 years ago. Now, a confident two-storey contemporary urban school building stands in its place. Built in a light taupe brick referencing the pub next door and the gateposts of nearby Southwark Park, its facades are punctuated by distinguished brick detailing and huge windows. In a busy urban area, yet virtually invisible from the road, the existing modular-built single-storey school, dating back to 1971, felt insular and cut-off from the vibrant multicultural local community. Pupils and staff at the school speak more than 40 languages. A wonderful positive feature of the new school is an unusually generous playground – the overall site totals 9,390 m² – creating a garden landscape around the buildings and providing a safe, vibrant and stimulating environment for children to learn and play in. Rotherhithe Primary School is part of the London Borough of Southwark
Regeneration Division’s ambitious primary school expansion programme. The plan was for the new school to replace the existing two-form entry provision with a three-form entry primary on the same site, creating more space for pupils to attend. Meanwhile, the existing school had to remain open while its replacement was built alongside. A school has stood on the site for more than 120 years. FCBStudios were determined to both honour the proud history of the school and celebrate the life, energy and positivity that makes it such a forward-thinking educational establishment, and community hub. FCBStudios partner Helen Roberts says that the opportunity to rebuild Rotherhithe Primary School resonated with FCBStudios’ ethos of collaboratively creating “socially-engaged” buildings. “We welcomed the opportunity to work in a dense inner-city area with a strong sense of community and identity.” Another appealing factor for the practice was that the school’s curriculum focused around learning from – and in – the natural environment. “Alongside their brief for a contextually responsive, timeless, sustainable building, this chimed with our practice’s agenda,” says Roberts. “So, entering the competition was of great interest to us.”
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