The woodland hub
The ‘skywalk’ with roof terraces in the background
Woodland focus for teaching
This school was designed for 132 students with severe and complex difficulties aged 11–19 on a confined site in a residential suburb. The school’s commitment to a forest school approach was a key design driver supported by Croydon Council.
The site was insufficient for the proposed number of students, but adjoined a wood designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. Croydon negotiated a land swap, bringing the site up to adequate size and offering an environment particularly suitable for the students’ educational, health and social needs.
Curl La Tourelle Architects and the landscape architects, Allen Scott, worked closely from the start with the school’s senior management. Their vision attached high value to outdoor learning, including horticulture and creative arts. Visits were made to existing forest schools and natural parks in London, Sussex and Oxfordshire to check their suitability and operational requirements.
The design responds to its exceptional setting by wrapping a J-shaped building of up to three storeys around outdoor classrooms, games and leisure space with hard and impact-absorbent surfaces. Play, dining and ‘kickabout’ terraces at first floor and roof level are protected with fine mesh to allow students to use them safely, and reinforce the sense of an amphitheatre. The bus drop-off area is fenced and gated, and doubles as a bike-riding area.
A creative hub sits on the edge of the wood, and a ‘sky walk’ bridge provides direct access from the first floor through the tree canopy into its heart. Here, bark paths meander between secluded working areas, separated from each other and from the wood beyond by discreet woven wood fences.
The importance of the woodland is as a natural extension of a rich range of learning environments, not simply as a lovely backdrop to indoor and outdoor views.