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
Education Facilities | Apr 18, 2019
Ransom Everglades School’s new STEM facility to emphasize flexibility
Perkins+Will is designing the building.
University Buildings | Mar 27, 2019
Veterans Resource Center at Cypress College breaks ground
Sundt Construction is building the project.
Education Facilities | Mar 8, 2019
Nature preserve on the Yangtze River will restore biodiversity to a polluted area
Ennead Architects, in partnership with Andropogon Landscape Architects, is designing the project.
Education Facilities | Feb 25, 2019
Fallingwater Institute’s summer residency programs have a new educational hub
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed the project.
Education Facilities | Feb 23, 2019
Construction completed on classroom/dorm combo building on Worcester Polytechnic’s campus
The latest addition embodies the school’s emphasis on collaborative problem-solving.
Education Facilities | Feb 13, 2019
STEM-focused school will cater to students who don’t speak English
Perkins+Will is designing the school.
Libraries | Feb 10, 2019
New library branch in San Diego opens with its community’s learning and working traits in mind
It features larger gathering spaces and more technology than its predecessor.
Green | Jan 28, 2019
This is the country’s greenest academic building
Perkins+Will designed the building.
Education Facilities | Jan 22, 2019
Rethinking classroom design to promote collaboration
A dynamic learning space needs to center around the learner, and be flexible enough to transform into any configuration that will facilitate collaboration, especially as curriculums change.
Education Facilities | Jan 21, 2019
N.J. middle school puts its small site to use
The school is named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of the “Beloved Community.”
