We were invited by an
infants school in Surrey to provide ideas exploring the feasibility of providing a
low cost/high impact design concept for totally reconfiguring the main entrance
to the school, extending the existing staffroom and to provide additional
offices for the teaching and administrative staff.
In order to reduce costs, we proposed a lightweight
insulated timber framed extension sitting on a simple raft foundation. This
would allow the opportunity to clad the exterior with Cedar (or similar) timber
boards, some of which could be stained with different contrasting shades with
the addition of some coloured strips as well.
The existing entrance is dark, claustrophobic and
awkwardly planned with no real sense of entry or space for a parents waiting
area.
The main aims of our proposal were to provide a more
welcoming and vibrant entrance to the school, bring in more natural light via
skylights, reorganise the entrance areas to provide a proper waiting area for
parents and visitors and to provide two additional staff offices.
There are no expensive build items here – all areas are
designed with keeping down costs in mind. The extension comprises about 65m2 (700ft2) plus about 80m2 (860ft2) of existing
area requiring refurbishment/alteration works adding up to a total of 145m2 (1,560ft2).
Before