ABSTRACT
The project for the Henrietta Barnett School, in the heart of London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb, demonstrates how a bright, modern and connected school environment might be constructed in the most sensitive of historic sites. Founded in 1911, the school is a top-performing voluntary-aided state grammar school for girls, which had been trying to build new facilities, without success, since 1961. The proposals differed from schemes by suggesting a substantial refurbishment of the science department, reusing the laboratories from the original building, thereby minimising the amount of new-build accommodation required elsewhere. External covered arcades bring the students outside as they circulate between classes, providing social spaces in which to gather and long views across the school site. The project was phased so that no temporary accommodation was required nor interruption to the academic cycle. Phase one saw the renovation of the science department, phase two the construction of the new buildings, and phase three the landscaping.
