BROCKLEHURST ARCHITECTS

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The new learning centre is a modern landmark building taking advantage of the views over the town. The simple plan which comprises of 464m2 of space permits maximum flexibility as the school develops in the future. The new centre includes a large library/learning area, which contains approximately 15,000 books. The new foyer area is used as an internet café, which offers facilities for the whole community.  The building was completed in 2006 on budget and to programme.

The existing kitchens at this London primary school were redundant and a new 12.5m pool has been created in their place which was opened in early 2009.   Although the site was very constricted the whole construction operation was carried out with minimal disruption to the school.

This new single storey building, completed in 2006 which links to the existing school provides a Foundation Stage Teaching Area at Glastonbury Thorn First School. and aims to establish an informal relationship to the original building.
Materials used are generally lightweight to emphasise the informality and small scale of the building and are natural wherever possible to encourage a sense of curiosity and play among the children.

The new building has been formed by extending the existing library and adding a new block linked back to the main building.  The accommodation now forms a dual use library for the public and the local Secondary School, and four classrooms for adult learning.  The adult learning spaces are designed to be as flexible as possible. 

The Sports Hall has been designed to accommodate one netball court and four badminton courts, all to County standard.  Indoor sports such as volleyball, short tennis, basketball, gymnastics plus cricket and athletics coaching are also catered for.  The site lies within The Metropolitan Green Belt and has been designed to reduce its visual impact on the school and the surrounding landscape by sinking the building into the ground and thereby enabling the roof height to be the same as nearby classrooms. 

The new music rooms include six practice rooms of varying sizes for different types of one-to-one and small group instrumental teaching.  These are contained within the acoustically insulted masonry ground floor.  On the cantilevered first floor, the teaching suite exploits the height of the building's pyramid roof to give acoustic volume to the large classroom.  The room can also be used for small concerts.  

New stand-alone arts faculty building comprising two large music studios (plus practice rooms), two drama studios and ceramic studio (plus kiln room). Teaching spaces accessed via double-height central circulation area, with natural day lighting provided via ridge-glazing.