A flexible, inclusive place for the community
BDP for Curo
Contract value: £9.1m
GIA: 3,150m2
Cost per m2: £2,889
The hub provides residents with a 210-place primary school and a 70-place children’s nursery along with community amenities including a café, clinic, fitness suite and enterprise space. This co-location of facilities was key to the brief, maximising flexibility over time and creating an inclusive place. Appropriately for this old Ministry of Defence site, the cantilevered forms were inspired by the temporary floating Mulberry harbours used for the Allied invasion of Normandy during the Second World War. Copper alloy cladding highlights the main school hall. It and the third floor enterprise space are cantilevered above the main entrance and public square.