Redbrook Hayes School is a one-form-entry primary school with a nursery and community library. Our design, based on the exemplar primary school for the Department for Education, responds well to its context and was developed in line with input from staff and pupils.
Key to the design was allowing the school and library to operate independently and run different opening hours, but work together so that pupils can access the library from the school. Community use of both facilities was also important, so toilets and changing facilities are located off the hall for easy access without opening the remainder of the building.
Before moving to its new building, league tables rated Redbrook among the 5% lowest achieving in the UK, but it is now in the top 20%; the school is performing particularly well in terms of contextual ‘value added’. The headteacher attributes the design, and the design process, to influencing some of this success.
Thanks to an enthusiastic headteacher and a contractor who was experienced in working with schools, the staff and pupils participated in the design process and produced a short film about their love for the new building. The school won an RIBA Award in 2007, and in the same year was shortlisted for the RIBA Schools Award in association with the Sorrell Foundation.
