Burntwood School a great sense of civic space and place


"Here, where Burntwood farm once stood, the river winds; where there were fields and woods, a new school rises, walls of concrete, glass, parallelograms of sunlight, shade, library, classrooms, corridors, arcades, sifting seconds through its hourglass, letting the light in, kindling creativity for dreams to grow like a living, leafing tree."
Gillian Clarke

Transformation of Burntwood School has retained the existing mature trees, modernist layout and style of the previous school, whilst reorganising new pavilions around a main civic spine. Urban green spaces spill off this spine and become less formal and more naturalised the greater the distance from the core.

KLA worked to carefully site new buildings to create new urban spaces, using built form to frame landscape and trees. There are three landscape typologies; wild grassy hillocks, squares gardens and lawns and fields and hedges which are reinforced with different planting.

The central flag lawn plays an important role in the daily life of the school. It is a formal raised plane of grass. Gardens for educational disciplines which are also outdoor teaching areas are located adjacent to pavilions. Beside the communication block a contemplative garden overlooks the playing fields, with a simple raised grass rectangle sloping above a grouping of birch trees with seating. The dining room looks out onto a new wide meadow with trees. A memory of the site’s pastural past is echoed in the new fields of Burntwood School.

Excellent site planning has resulted in an organised simplicity of relationships between landscape and architecture that aids wayfinding. By separating vehicles from people and bikes, a safe linear pedestrian heart to the school is created. The overall external design aesthetic is a monochrome palette animated by colour at entrances only which celebrates the light and shade cast by cladding, building form and trees. 

This BSF funded design and build project recognises the school's role at the centre of the community it serves. The strong visual framework of unusual trees and simple generous planar spaces aids legibility and supports the creation of a great sense of civic space and place, which reinforces students' sense of pride.

2009–2014
Wandsworth, London

Client

Wandsworth Council LEA / Lend Lease

Value

£1.4m External Works

Architect

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects

Engineer

Buro Happold

Mott McDonald Fulcum

Graphic Design

Studio Myerscough

Photographer

Tim Soar

Awards

2015 Civic Trust Award Winner
2015 RIBA National Award Winner
2015 RIBA Stirling Prize Winner



Burntwood School

"Here, where Burntwood farm once stood, the river winds; where there were fields and woods, a new school rises, walls of concrete, glass, parallelograms of sunlight, shade, library, classrooms, corridors, arcades, sifting seconds through its hourglass, letting the light in, kindling creativity for dreams to grow like a living, leafing tree."
Gillian Clarke

Kinnear Landscape Architects
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