Portals to other worlds typically come in inconspicuous packages: closets, cupboards, overgrown gates, or train station lockers. The key is making the ordinary become extraordinary, and that is how Studio Weave approached the Belvue School’s new woodlands classrooms project.
Belvue School, a secondary school in Northolt, England for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 19 with moderate to severe learning difficulties, enlisted the help of Studio Weave to design the unique classroom facility that sits adjacent to a woodland. The facility is separate from the main school building and incorporates the woodland into the design.
Courtesy of Belvue School.
The classrooms needed to provide two distinct types of learning environments: a calm, informal teaching space, and a separate space for a student-run school café. The boundary between the playground and the woods creates a threshold of sorts that symbolizes the entrance to another world. The design team referenced the gate to the secret garden and the cupboard to Narnia and the woodland classrooms were designed to act as a gatehouse between our world and one beyond.
Story writing workshops with the students were used in the design process to create a collective narrative for the woodland and to identify how the gatehouse could interact with it.
Courtesy of Belvue School.
The new facility features amenities like the “Cosy Lounge,” a space designed to be used for teaching and engaging with the woodland. It offers a connection to wildlife that many students don’t otherwise have access to. Another feature, the “Sociable Kitchen,” includes a café with a food preparation area and dining for small groups of staff and students.
See Also: Child-specific mental health center features design elements to support healing
The building’s concave roofs create a more intimate scale upon entering the classrooms that opens up as one moves towards the center. The curved soffit enables light from the roof light to spill across the entire surface and naturally light the room. The stack effect created by the roof allows for the spaces to be entirely naturally ventilated.
Courtesy of Belvue School.
Courtesy of Belvue School.
Related Stories
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
| Sep 7, 2014
Ranked: Top state government sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
PCL Construction, Stantec, and AECOM head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest state government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Sep 4, 2014
Best of education design: 11 projects win AIA CAE architecture awards [slideshow]
The CAE Design Excellence Award honors educational facilities that the jury believes should serve as an example of a superb place in which to learn. Projects range from a design school in Maryland to an elementary school in Washington.
Sponsored | | Sep 4, 2014
Learning by design: Steel curtain wall system blends two school campuses
In this the new facility, middle school and high school classroom wings flank either side of the auditorium and media center. A sleek, glass-and-steel curtain wall joins them together, creating an efficient, shared space. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Sep 3, 2014
Ranked: Top local government sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
STV, HOK, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest local government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.
| Sep 2, 2014
Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
Sponsored | | Sep 2, 2014
Judson University’s Harm A. Weber Academic Center resembles copper, but its sustainability efforts are pure gold
The building’s custom-fabricated wall panels look like copper, but are actually flat metal sheets coated with Valspar’s signature Fluropon Copper Penny coating.
| Sep 1, 2014
Ranked: Top federal government sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Clark Group, Fluor, and HOK top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest federal government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 27, 2014
Study looks at lessons from involving children in K-12 school design
A study examining what architects can learn from children, especially during the design process, is being carried out through the University of Sheffield's school of architecture.
