Hillyfield Academy

Hillyfield at the Park is a new 4FE primary school that required the remodelling and extension of an empty, and un-loved 1960s secondary school building on the edge of Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, east London. In addition to mainstream spaces, the project provided spaces for children with a variety of special educational learning needs: the project included sensory rooms and therapy rooms.

Our key task was to assess the options for refurbishment, remodelling or new-build (or a hybrid of different forms of development) as well as considering how the school site could be pragmatically laid out. In order to allow the first wave of pupils into the school as early as possible, the project was split into multiple phases that also allowed the challenging budget to be carefully managed.

The school opened its doors to its first pupils in September 2013 and was refurbished for a cost of under £1,000 per square meter including new mechanical and electrical systems, new interior spaces, glazing and thermal upgrades throughout. The first two phases of the project comprised the remodelling and refurbishment of the existing building: converting secondary school sized spaces to be suitable from primary aged children.

Phase 3 comprised a new, two-storey extension that plugs into the central circulation hub. Conceived as a cultivated elevation to continue the site’s existing ‘green-corridor’, the extension provides 8 new classrooms with provide open-plan and adaptable teaching areas for Y5 and Y6 pupils. The extension was completed with the funding provided by the Department for Education and Skills (DFES), the Local Authority and the Academy Trust.

Adaptable Classrooms
The classrooms are designed as a set of open plan adaptable pairs of class-bases which can open up to form larger spaces for year-wide, topic-based learning. The spaces can also be broken down into individual rooms for more focussed teaching and learning. The timber-clad group rooms that project towards the playground provide the opportunity for specialist teaching within the context of the general classroom environment, providing inclusive teaching provision with a view.

Green Screen
The planting strategy in the green screen has been carefully developed; structural climbing plants to give a backdrop and sense of transparency, evergreens in planters to maintain a sense of visual consistency and to provide an opportunity for each class to grow and maintain their own plants. In combination with shading provided by the overhangs to the group rooms, the planted facade will negate the need for any mechanical ventilation and provide a new green foil and formal boundary to the north edge of the park.