Westminster Academy at The Naim Dangoor Centre, London
2008
ALLFORD HALL MONAGHAN MORRIS


Photo © Tim Soar

Shortlisted for Stirling Prize 2008


Photographs © Tim Soar

WESTMINSTER ACADEMY

Westminster Academy is a school that sets new standards for educational buildings, meeting the demands of a highly innovative and radical educational agenda and creating a place to learn, interact and aspire.


Photographs © Tim Soar

Located in a gritty urban context, dominated by the Westway, the aspiration was to create a new civic landmark in which the pupils, staff and wider community felt a sense of pride. The simple form of the school, responding to the need for a fully sealed building, has a bold, expressive façade stratified into large panels of glazing, vibrantly coloured terracotta tiles in green and yellow and a series of illuminated screens. The rear elevation, facing the Westway, continues this stratification with deep, cantilevered balconies overlooking the terraced landscape and the Academy Sport building.


Photographs © Tim Soar

The plan of the school was driven by ideas of connectivity with a 'market place' on the ground floor physically connecting all the key communal spaces at this level and visually connecting to the whole school via the full height atrium with coloured sculptural roof. This dramatic space embodies the needs of the new learning framework by operating as the lively hub of the school with a large central staircase acting as the main school circulation. Pupils are encouraged to plan their own working schedule and move between the café, informal working spaces, the library, the Green Room (lecture theatre) and the Sky Dining Room on the top floor.


Photograph © Tim Soar

Within the building, a palette of robust materials including raw concrete, painted blockwork, timber and acoustic baffles intentionally foreground the teaching environment and aims to encourage exhibition and display. Developed in collaboration with Studio Myerscough, the 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.


Photographs © Rob Parrish



Location: 225 Harrow Road, W2

Westminster Academy at The Naim Dangoor Centre : Stirling Prize Shortlist 2008

Photographs: Matt Chisnall


For Westminster Academy, Westminster City Council, DCSF and Exilarch Foundation

City Academy for 1175 students

RIBA National Award for Architecture 2008
RIBA London Building of the Year 2008
RIBA Sorrell Foundation Schools Award shortlist 2008
Design Week Wayfinding and Environmental Graphics 2008
Best Incorporation of Daylight Award, Light & Architecture Design Awards 2008
Future Vision Award 2007
BCSE Award Inspiring Design - Secondary School 2008

Shortlisted for Stirling Prize 2008

RIBA Awards

London Architects



London Architecture listed by building

English Buildings

World Architecture: e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

ALLFORD HALL MONAGHAN MORRIS

London School

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Westminster Academy building - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt