Education
Primary education
Scuola La Monda, Grono, Switzerland by Raphael Zuber
Raphael Zuber’s innovative school building in Grono, Switzerland is a lesson in what creative practices can achieve in a conducive industry culture
Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead Garden Suburb by Hopkins Architects
Hopkins’ greatest skill is in creating contextual rather than iconic architecture, and its new school buildings next to Lutyens’ Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute put this to the test
South Norwood Hill Children’s Centre by Erect Architecture
Erect Architecture’s joyful reinvention of a nursery building in South Norwood, London, has a lot to teach us about working with existing buildings and systems, says Oliver Wainwright
White Design’s Dartington Primary School
With its individual timber-clad classrooms, Dartington Primary School in Devon by White Design blends into the rural landscape while creating one of the greenest schools in the UK.
Maccreanor Lavington's De Klare Bron primary, Belgium
The flexibility of the Flemish system enabled Maccreanor Lavington to branch out into a new sector with its generous yet understated nursery and primary school in Heverlee village
dRMM’s Clapham Manor Primary extension, London
De Rijke Marsh Morgan’s striking addition to the 19th century Clapham Manor Primary school exemplifies the practice’s love of a technological solution
St Joseph’s Primary School, Highgate, by Pie Architecture
Pie Architecture’s individual reworking of a 1970s primary school is notable for its careful attention to the needs of the classroom
Walters & Cohen's Wembley Primary School, London
Walters & Cohen overcame considerable site constraints to create Wembley Primary School with large courtyards at its heart to bring the community together
East’s Sussex Road Primary School in Tonbridge, Kent
Architectural practice East’s commitment to working with a location’s found conditions proved particularly apt when the brief for an extension to Sussex Road Primary School in Tonbridge unexpectedly grew in size
DSDHA’s Pond Meadow School is a singular piece of education architecture
Pond Meadow special needs school near Guildford is the first phase of DSDHA’s biggest commission yet. The external aspect makes free with the sense of scale while its attentive internal detailing is as much therapeutic as architectural
Secondary education
Drawing board: St Saviour’s & St Olave’s School, South London by AOC
AOC’s extension to a south London girls’ school opens up its defensive design with a glass entrance and uses striking brick signage to emphasise its presence
Broadway School by Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
A pragmatic yet innovative approach to a school refurbishment in Birmingham points towards the future of educational institutions in these straitened times
City of Westminster College by Schmidt Hammer Lassen
City of Westminster College, the Learning & Skills Council’s last grand vision, leaves a dramatic monument to a bygone age.
Evelyn Grace Academy, Brixton, by Zaha Hadid Architects
The aggressive swagger of Zaha Hadid’s Evelyn Grace Academy reflects the hard-edged dynamism found within the school itself
DEGW’s personalised learning research project
DEGW is leading a research project on the spatial implications of personalised learning principles, and how architects can embody them in their school designs.
Scabal’s sports hall for Dunraven secondary school in Streatham, London
Could recycled shipping containers be the future of low-cost, fast-build structures? Scabal’s sports hall for Dunraven secondary school in Streatham, south London, is proving a success
AHMM: Dagenham Park School, Barking
Paul Monaghan and Andrew O’Donnell of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris discuss the use of prefabrication at the practice’s £16.9m Dagenham Park School.
Penoyre & Prasad’s Wren Academy
Penoyre & Prasad’s Wren Academy in north London specialises in the built environment, meaning that the building itself is a teaching aid
Nicholas Hare’s Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham
Nicholas Hare’s Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College provides the students with an atmosphere of calm relaxation
Penoyre & Prasad’s Minster School in Southwell
The practice’s Minster School in Southwell consolidated two sites on one, with open and versatile spaces. Happy staff and proud, well-behaved pupils are testament to its success
Higher education
Central St Martins, King’s Cross, London, by Stanton Williams
Stanton Williams’s conversion of a listed granary building in King’s Cross reimagines the industrial landscape for a new creative generation, writes local artist Richard Wentworth
Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University, by Stanton Williams
This laboratory in the University of Cambridge’s Botanic Gardens is the ideal habitat for botanists
McAslan’s masterplan for Lancaster University
Over the years since 1963 Lancaster University’s rigorous design vision had become diluted and its core seemed bleak and lifeless. Now John McAslan & Partners is showing it a new way forward.
Cranfield Centre for Competitive Creative Design, by Niall McLaughlin Architects
With its distinctive wing-like roof, Niall McLaughlin’s building for Cranfield University in Bedfordshire fits well with the ambition of the only campus to have its own airfield.
Moscow School of Management by Adjaye Associates
David Adjaye has cross-fertilised 1920s Russian Suprematism with his own African heritage to create the gargantuan Moscow School of Managment in Skolkovo
Hawkins Brown's Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar
Hawkins Brown has won planning permission for its student accommodation complex at the Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar
Ellis Miller’s campus for Catmose College
Jonathan Ellis-Miller’s modular school pays tribute to the hi-tech era while presaging the dawn of a joyless flatpack future
Hawkins Brown's school of the arts for the University of Kent
Hawkins Brown took a film studio lot as the inspiration for its new Jarman Building in Canterbury for the University of Kent.
Ravensbourne College, Greenwich, by Foreign Office Architects
FOA’s new building for Ravensbourne College makes bold predictions about how the next generation of students will be taught
Sanaa’s Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne
The surreal landscapes of the Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne belie a more traditional belief in the link between open spaces and education
