Commission by London Borough of Islington for refurbishment and rationalisation of a new Children's Centre
Client: London Borough of Islington
Gross Area: 600 m2
Cost: £750K
Dates: 2004-2006
The site includes the entire ground floor area of Hargrave Park Primary School, a three to four storey Victorian brick building located within a conservation area. The objective of the brief was to provide, by means of refurbishment and rationalisation a new welcoming and stimulating 'creative environment' for the establishment of a new Children's Centre.
A team of professional consultants led by Kay Hartmann Architects was selected through a competitive process to design and manage the construction of the scheme. The identity of the scheme manifests itself with the introduction of a range of new facilities organised within one single new and easily recognisable linear design element known as 'the Band'. It accommodates the following various functions: wet play area, climbing frame, quiet area, changing facilities, milk kitchen, and kitchen and storage space. This new element that is visually and structurally detached from the existing fabric of the building is similar to a large-scale piece of furniture. It seeks to program and enrich the existing accommodation. All components of the new intervention have been prefabricated off site. The new frameless glass canopy, the set of steel gates with coloured glass insets and the two oak clad entrance doors accentuate the contemporary ensemble of the new entrance from Bredgar Road that forms an integral part of the scheme.
Konstruktiv10/07pg 34-35: Hargrave Park Primary School, Baustelle: Schulreform
Baunetz 05/01/07, : Hargrave Park Primary School, Not just another brick in the wall...
Archiweb 07, : Hargrave Park Primary School, Škola Hargrave Park v Londýne od Kay Hartmann
The Building Conservation Directory 06/07 pg 6-8: Hargrave Park Primary School, Saving our historic primary schools
The Royal Society of Arts Journal 12/06 pg 30-35: Hargrave Park Primary School, Building School Success architecture today 172, 10/2006 pg 49: Hargrave Park Primary School, Kay Hartmann in Archway
photographer: Edmund Sumner