Woodlea Primary School, Bordon, Hampshire

The nature of the place and project engendered a great spirit in, and degree of cooperation between, almost everyone involved. The building contract was unusually trouble-free and enjoyable, with many people giving their own time to help produce the pond, seats, and to help clear the site.

Nev Churcher, architect

Woodlea is a predominantly timber and masonry structure put together simply, with a stock of straightforward details which nevertheless encapsulate essential site-specific characteristics. For example, the timber sections which support the pitched classroom roofs were worked out on site with the contractors. They are detailed as stepped tapering rafters becoming thinner as they project away from the roof edge. A small detail, perhaps, but one which illustrates the care and attention paid to the realization of this building.

The school is set to the west of the site, adjacent to the earthworks. This has ensured that site level changes have been kept to a minimum. The entrance and resource area are on the middle level while gentle ramped circulation leads naturally up to the hall and music area and down into the infant and junior teaching suites. Thus areas are clearly defined but linked visually. The hard wet noisy areas are on the outside of the curved form and open onto paved play areas, whilst soft, dry quieter zones focus towards the interior. These give onto timber decks used for study and play. Both sides provide maximum teaching flexibility and optimize the inside/outside relationship, both visually and functionally.

High standards of natural lighting have been achieved by means of glazed roof lights which modulate and control the lighting in a variety of ways. Plain-pitched ceilings reflect daylight down and combine with artificial light from uplighters, to give even, glare-free lighting. Care has been taken to achieve a good acoustic environment in 153what is generally an open plan building. This is achieved by a judicious use of screens and baffles and appropriate surface materials. The form of the music/drama room was devised to give acceptable reverberation times. Its shape echoes the organic mood of the rest of the building. Figure CS5.5 Junior school technology lesson in progress: natural light is introduced in a variety of ways creating an ever-changing atmosphere during the long teaching day. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/figcs5_5_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Photo: © Tony Weller/The Builder Group Library.)

The form and plan of Woodlea have their origin in the landscape. A substantial number of trees were felled in order to construct the building; however, this does not appear to have detracted from the natural beauty of the site. The plan developed from a complex process of marking-out the contours of the land around a natural earth bowl, and sketching, intuitively, the required forms of classrooms and ancillary spaces, until the right shape appeared. No plan or photograph can do full justice to the poetic quality of this building in its natural setting.