Westminster Academy
A Vision for Learning
The Westminster Academy is a new secondary school in
West London, housing 1175 pupils and 128 staff members.
The sponsor, Exilarch Foundation and the founding Principal,
Alison Banks, had a powerful vision of learning for the school
that embraces the latest thinking in education and the ideals
of the RSA Curriculum of the 21st century. The core values
of the Academy are Enterprise, Global Citizenship and
Communication delivered through a flexible and responsive
learning framework that gives pupils individual responsibility
for their education and encourages team working by both staff
and pupils.
In response to this clear and progressive brief, Allford Hall
Monaghan Morris (AHMM) have created a building that draws
upon the extensive and varied experience of their practice in
a range of sectors. The driving idea was to create a learning
environment that inspired creativity and enabled connectivity
and flexibility. This approach seeks to create a completely
different learning environment – one that raises expectations
in terms of what this might mean in the 21st century.
Civic Pride
The Academy is located in a gritty urban context, dominated
by the Westway flyover, surrounding 1960s tower blocks and
the Harrow Road. The site is also crossed by a public right
of way and houses several public sports pitches. The physical
complexities of the site are matched by the cultural and social
challenges of working in one of the poorest areas in the
capital with a secondary school population of whom a high
proportion are bilingual.
The school is located along one edge of the site lining the
Harrow Road in the form of a 5-storey building housing all
facilities except the sports facilities. These are housed in a
separate building to allow for all year round community use.
In response to the powerful sculptural nature of the
surrounding architecture and civil engineering and the need for
a fully sealed building, the Academy façade is boldly stratified
into large panels of glazing, vibrantly coloured terracotta tiles
in green and yellow and a series of illuminated screens. These
layers, relating to the functions inside, create a highly-reflective
building by day that transforms into a colourfully glowing
beacon at night.
The rear elevation to the south continues this stratification
with deep cantilevered balconies overlooking the terraced
outdoor spaces. These balconies act as the primary means of
escape for the classrooms and therefore allowing the central
atrium to be totally open.
Green Environment
Sustainability was a core theme of the project approached
through the design of all elements and the selection of
materials and services. Within the glazed atrium, which
provides significant amounts of natural light within the building,
the system for shading has been designed as a sculptural
feature running north/south. The system of baffles, coloured
green and yellow in one direction and painted white on the
reverse to maximise reflected light provide effective shading
but are made from simple door blanks.
Due to the requirement to keep out noise from the Westway
and Harrow Road the building is sealed and so mechanically
ventilated, which provides greater flexibility in use to spaces
internally.
The in-situ, exposed concrete frame, projecting balconies
on the rear elevation and the sedum roof are all sustainable
features that have been designed to add drama to the school
whilst delivering a range of environmental advantages – now
and during the life of the building.
Security & Stimulation
For Alison Banks, the recipe for effective learning is ‘security
- stimulation’ and so the plan was driven by ideas of flexibility and connectivity. A ‘market place’ on the ground floor physically connects to all the key communal spaces at this level and visually connects to the whole school via the full height atrium with a highly-coloured sculptural roof. This dramatic central space embodies the needs of the new learning framework by operating as the hub of the school. Pupils are encouraged to plan their own working schedule and are free to move between the café and informal working spaces, a multi-functional “Long Room’, the library and the Green Room (lecture theatre) that can hold an entire year group. Using Space Syntax to predict people flow around the school, AHMM designed a large central staircase as the main circulation for the school. Scissor Stairs, inspired by Escher, at each end of the building act as fire escapes only. On each floor, wide corridors allow ease of flow and are terminated by floorto-ceiling glazing with views to the mature trees around the site. These long views and internally glazed teaching and break- out spaces create an open feel whilst providing acoustically insulated spaces and a highly efficient and clearly understood plan. The ideas of passive surveillance and connectivity also dictated the central location of the toilets that also have two entrances to reduce the risk of bullying. These areas are designed to a high specification with individual cubicles complete with basin, dryers and full height walls for privacy and communal areas dominated by long mirrors. Another unusual feature is the location of the dining room, ‘Sky Dining’, found at the top of the building, providing diners with views south across the Westway. Both the dining room and social spaces on this floor have access to large terraces front and back.
Landscape
The landscape around the two main buildings is one large open
space but terraced to maximise uses through changes in levels
leading to seven sport pitches located under the Westway
for weather protection. The large concrete terraces provide
robust in-situ steps and benches within an orchard of new
trees with different surfaces marking areas that can be used for
outdoor teaching, quiet socialising, or team games.
A long strata of timber clad wall at ground level ties the main
building, the landscape and the Academy Sport together. Slicing
through the site is a raised bridge that maintains the public
right of way.
Academy Sport
The Academy Sport building is constructed from concrete to
ground floor and steel frame above. The ground floor consists
of a bank of seven pairs of locker rooms, one for each sports
pitch. The dance studio and sports hall are on the first floor
with sprung rubber and timber floors respectively. Diffused
light will enter the end of the sports hall through ‘Reglit’ glass,
with the remainder of the building clad entirely in an untreated
larch rainscreen. The building and sports pitches will be shared
by community and students with managed access throughout
the day.
Materials & Graphics
In contrast to the bold colourful exterior, a more austere
approach to materials has been employed internally where
raw concrete, painted blockwork, timber and acoustic baffles
intentionally foreground the teaching environment. The building
in this case is seen as a backdrop to learning and aims to
encourage exhibition and display. An important aspect of the
commission from the early days was to ensure that the team
was able to select all the furniture for the school. In the break
out areas specially designed Academy tables were designed by
Andrew Stafford.
The extensive use of graphics with long time AHMM
collaborator Morag Myerscough also draws on our experience
in commercial and civic environments. Bold branding for the
school and the spaces within, a rich colour palette and large
graphic elements relate to the vibrant reality of urban life
beyond the school walls and to an international community
– both on the doorstep and beyond.
Project Team:
Client: Westminster Academy, Westminster City Council,
DCSF and Exilarch Foundation
Sponsor: Exilarch Foundation, David Dangoor
Architect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Lead Consultant: Building Design Partnership
Project Manager: Capita Symonds
Main Contractor: Galliford Try
FF&E Consultant: Building Design Partnership
Graphic Designer: Studio Myerscough
Quantity Surveyor: Davis Langdon
ICT Consultant: Hornagold & Hills
Security Consultant: Buro Happold
Structural Engineer: Building Design Partnership
Catering Consultant: Winton Nightingale
Services Engineer: Building Design Partnership
Acoustic Consultant: Sandy Brown Associates
Landscape Architect: Building Design Partnership
Fire Consultant: Warrington Fire
Lighting Engineer: Building Design Partnership
Building Control: MLM
Planning Supervisor: PCM Safety
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris: Team Members:
Simon Allford, Sarah Baccin, Sonia Browse, Robert Burton, Ming Chung, Julie Franklin, Mark Foster, Alexis Germanos,
Ben Gibson, Susan Le Good, Jonathan Hall, Lee Higson, Stuart Hill,
Gareth Jones, Victor Kite, Paul Monaghan, Peter Morris, Steve Morton, Gabriel Musat, Mira Porstmann, Goh Ong,
Anna Radcliffe, Alexa Ratcliffe, Debby Ray, Demetra Lindsay, Heidrun Schuhmann, Laura Stephenson, Matt Thornley
& James White.
