Belham Primary School centres around the sensitive restoration of the Grade II Listed Old Bellenden School. The vacant building had not functioned as a school for years, requiring essential remedial works to restore the listed fabric, legible circulation and modern learning environments.
The positioning of the building served as a challenge, given complex party wall issues, overlooking from neighbours, rights of light implications and the historic gables of the existing building which Historic England were keen to preserve.
Education
London Borough of Southwark
Southwark, London, UK
£10.3m
2018
Through extensive consultation with the school, governors, parents, children, the local community, the Local Authority, the planners and Historic England, Haverstock cleverly knit a contemporary 3-storey extension into the fabric, referencing the listed building’s scale while minimising the impact on external spaces.
Internally, learning spaces were refurbished and divided into classrooms, breakout and exhibition spaces. Innovative roof terraces integrated throughout the extension maximise external learning opportunities for the children.
Conceived as a perforated Corten box atop a brick plinth, the extension offers an appropriately subservient addition to the original building. A glazed section on the first floor adorned with triangular skylights mediates the relationship between old and new while maximising the amount of light reaching the classrooms.
New London Architecture Awards, Education Category, Commendation, 2019
SPACES Refurbishment School Award, Winner, 2019
BD Architect of the Year Awards, Refurbishment Category, Finalist, 2019
Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist & Selwyn Goldsmith Awards for Universal Design Regional Finalist, 2019
AJ Architecture Awards, School Project of the Year Category, Finalist, 2018
AJ Retrofit Awards, Schools Category, Finalist, 2018
New London Architecture Awards, Education Category, Finalist, 2018
The extension’s success has been achieved through the creation of sensitive and subtle interactions between the original building’s existing heritage features and the bright character of the new addition, blending the conversation between the listed structure and new educational facilities.
This project balanced the needs of conservation, development, sustainable design, stakeholder engagement and outstanding architecture for the benefit of its diverse and dynamic community in central London.
