Alleyn's School Lower School, Dulwich

GIA: 1,286m²
Cost per m²: £3,064

 

Alleyn’s Lower School provides a safe, welcoming environment for 300 children moving from the prep to the main school. This is done by arranging classrooms around a top-lit central space and a warm palette of materials. Sensitive scale and massing ensure it does not overwhelm residential neighbours, its form and restrained brick detailing creating a landmark in the urban context. The triangular form maximises the site and creates a legible, easy to use building. The clustering of classrooms around the atrium is particularly successful at upper levels where the pitched roof lends a domestic feel. A general sense of security and intimacy encourages pupils to socialise – and ultimately learn – in this fantastic precedent for a school project.