BOOK BOX
Filtered light, birch ply joinery and natural ventilation louvers bring the outside in for calm, experiential learning
FOR ST PATRICK’S SCHOOL, KENTISH TOWN
Book Box, a library and music room, transforms the image of St Patrick’s School.
The birch ply of the interior and formal relationship to the flowering cherry tree behind embody the school’s commitment to helping the children flourish.
Supergraphic text applied to the fence asserts the school’s identity, while the ease of reading how the building is put together internally furthers the school’s pedagogic aims.
CHALLENGING THE BRIEF - ADDING VALUE
Although the brief initially asked for the school extension to be placed on the roof, we proposed to include it as an addition next to the school towards the road instead. The new location makes a significant difference in terms of its place in the community, its relationship to parents and ongoing entrance issues, external teaching spaces and, most importantly, it has led to a wonderful space to inspire children. The school is now connected to the immediate townscape and has a stronger relationship with to its playground. Additionally, creating a separate building has meant the project hasn't been subject to VAT.
JOINERY, FURNITURE & STRUCTURE - ALL IN ONE
The whole of interior is constructed from birch ply, including the bookcases and benches which become one with the structure. The first floor music store hangs from plywood portal frames with stainless steel hangers, which in turn support the glazed balustrade. The gantry is held away from the sides of the building so it appears to float, and the hangers are delicately and discretely tied back into the portal columns.
INVITING THE OUTSIDE IN
The bookcase is a large piece of joinery that connects the stair, the natural ventilation louvers and supports the music store floor above. Made from birch plywood and green acrylic, it allows views through the windows to a Japanese cherry tree at the rear.
INVOLVEMENT OF THE FUTURE USERS
School Pupils were involved in the early design process. They were asked to draw the best and silliest places to read a book. Pupils were also taken outside to sit, read and play in the proposed location of the building, connecting them with the space and the idea of having a new special room.
ONE VOLUME - MANY FUNCTIONS
The space can be opened up to the outside working as a performance space. The interior joinery provides a backdrop to the 'stage' when an audience watches from under the external canopy. The canopy represents a tree, a place to sit under and learn, with the CNC pattern cut into the plywood creating an abstract image of the existing tree to the east.
‘The St Patrick’s School Music Room and Library marks that rare occasion when a small budget in the hands of a thoughtful and ingenious architect lays the seed for the step by step transformation of an entire institution.“
- Marco Goldschmied, past RIBA president and co-founder of the Stephen Lawrence Prize
LOCATION
London
SIZE
2,000 sqft
STATUS
Completed in 2011
CLIENT
St. Patrick’s School, Kentish Town
AWARDS
/ RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize – won
/ RIBA London Award – won