Teachers share ideas within the dining space, with curriculum material close by.
Bespoke furniture creates an apartment feel rather than institutional.
A former store cupboard now provides quiet marking space.
This project demonstrates the benefits of a streamlined approach to education design. With a budget of only £55,000, the school set a brief to refurbish the staff areas in their existing Victorian building. Their main requirement was to retain staff in this outstanding inner city London school, recognising that they often work long hours and need high quality spaces in which to prepare. They also wanted a design that enhanced the character of their Victorian school.
Appointed as interior designers, Contents Design set up workshops with the staff and identified the key issues:
- A need for collaborative working.
- Efficient use at peak times.
- The provision of quiet work space.
The final interior design scheme provided high quality furniture and finishes to convey the feeling of an apartment. Bespoke furniture, such as the shelving and workstations, were designed to promote collaborative working as well as provide quiet workspace. The new layout provides greater flexibility, allowing for efficient use at peak times. It is inclusive, catering for the different needs of support staff and teachers.
The end result is that teachers are using the space more to share ideas and teaching methods, which leads to them being inspired and passing this on to the children.
‘It is the first time we have used an interior designer for school works but this ensured the project was completed on site in two weeks and with zero defects. The learning is that for us there is value in working with an interior designer to ensure we thoroughly understood what we wanted and then got what we wanted! From a financial perspective, it is the first time a project has finished on time and under budget.’
Cassie Buchanan, Headteacher.