SDA 2022 Entries

• Public Building - Public Buildings used by the public for any purpose, such as assembly, education, entertainment, government, healthcare, transport or worship. This will also include civic centres, community centres, libraries, visitor centres, culture, health + wellbeing, faith, education, sports venues and stadia, transport, central + local government, entertainment and event venues

A large Edwardian house was transformed into an Art and Design Technology Hub for a primary school . The exterior of the building was not altered beyond the addition of roof windows. Internally walls were moved the circulation was altered and new spaces created. The construction programme was nine months long and the contract value was £457,000. Redmond Ive Architects working with Evolve Architecture designed the internal refurbishment and detailed fit out of the building . The school wanted one large art room with ample storage and flexible classroom spaces. the top floor is a bonus space for future computer based design or a quiet study place for older students .

The front porch has the original Victorian encaustic tiles and these influenced the choice of black and white mosaic tiles for the main hall and atrium space. One steps off these tiles onto two flights of colourful staircases. The tree surrounding the building led us to choose green as the theme to work with. The stairs are of solid softwood and birch plywood construction with the treads and risers over clad with Forbo Marmoleum. Its thru colour was a key factor in the selection. Even after years of use the treads may thin but will look good for many years. The birch plywood balustrading is painted to match the Marmoleum. These are topped with a continuous stainless steel handrail. On the upper floors the school wanted to use Forbo Flotex because it is hardwearing and easy to clean. The Flotex is carried into the upper classrooms in enlivening the spaces. Floors in wet areas are finished in Forbo’s vinyl Surestep roll selected for its good wear and anti-slip properties. Walls in wet areas are clad in acrylic sheets with neat, welded, joints. Tinted blue acrylic sheets protect the retained windows around the first staircase accentuating the blue sky. Varied lighting offers adjustable spotlights in display areas, large daylight flat panel lights in classrooms and in the circulation spaces floating clouds and dangling mobile hang from above. The 2nd lime coloured flight of stairs is lit below with LED linear bands making the underside of the stair something special to enjoy.

The building has a new life in the community. Rather than demolish and build new we worked with a characterful and quirky old house and added to its character. It has gone from being a shabby nursery to being a creative Hub for Twickenham Prep School. Staff and students are inspired just walking into the building . Natural light now reaches down, into the heart of the building . Larger bright classrooms, colourful and fun communal spaces are combined with cheerful and comfortable intimate spaces.

We selected many traditional materials of tiles, formica, linoleum, wood and carpet in this project because they suited the period qualities of the architecture in the building . Being a school building, doors needed to have visual panels and easy to clean so formica was a good choice in a neutral colour. We had a half day session with a Forbo sales representative to go through all the flooring selections to include matt wells and the carpet in the staff meeting room . Evolvearchitecture lead the design and material choices and garnered client confidence to make a lime green staircase in the middle of a building . not all clients would have that courage . Staff and students love it!