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50 & 20 Years Ago

Horniman Primary School

The view across London. The Keeper’s Flat is the nearest part of the school with the Infant’s Section seen down the slope.

This delightful school has now been in operation for three years and has been proven to be very successful. It has a number of unusual features brought about by the difficult site and these notes briefly describe the building and show how well it is being exploited by the children and their teachers.

There are probably very few three-storey buildings with one floor or, if you prefer it, single-storey buildings with three floors. And yet, in some ways, both descriptions are true of this school. As can be seen from the photographs and drawings, the building stands on a very steep site and this enabled the architect to provide access to each floor at ground level. The result was that escape routes in case of fire are always on one level and although at some points there are three storeys no fire protection was required for the structure.

The school has now been in use for about three years and has proven to be very successful, the headmistress Mrs Abbott, and her staff, enjoying the freedom of movement brought about by this unusual arrangement. The following notes describe the building briefly and the photographs show the imaginative treatment given to the steel frame by the pupils and staff.

The school is in Horniman Drive, which runs east/west along a ridge behind the Horniman Museum in Lewisham. The school is on the north slope with the entrance at the highest level along the south side. There is a fall of 60 ft across the site and the tilt is in two directions. The area was subject to ground movement and the creep was sufficiently severe for the Local Authority to install a flexible drain made of rubber.

The rear of the school showing the Hall (left of centre) the Infants Section (far left) and the Junior Section (on right).

The original brief called for a single storey building but the steep slope made this impracticable so a compromise was achieved by introducing a number of steps made in the plan between activity areas. A balance had to be maintained between what would work educationally and what was reasonable in cost of construction.

At the highest level are the administration areas and the School Keeper’s Flat. They adjoin a small area for car parking and general access.

The car park, administration section and Keeper’s Flat facing Horniman Drive.

Ten feet down is the largest step with the Kitchen and Library under the top floor and opening on to a large free area around the Assembly Hall. This combines a circulation area with the Dining Area and at the eastern end expands into the infants section, which meets natural ground level at the end enabling a a covered play space to be provided. There is a footpath from the infants section to Horniman Drive so the children do not have to walk over driveways. On the western side of the circulation and dining area is the junior section which is a complete storey height above ground level because of the fall in the ground. A central staircase leads to a large covered activity area with an entrance hall and a further direct footpath to the Horniman Drive pavement. This covered area is useful for general play and to some extend makes advantage out of adversity since flat play areas would have been very expensive by this one was a ‘by product’ of the building.

Preliminary site investigations showed that two types of foundation would be possible, raft or piles. Conventional strip foundations were ruled out because of the hill creep. Because of the slope it would not have been feasible to put the whole school on one raft and a number would have been impracticable. On the other hand piles became economical through reducing the reducing the number to the least practical. They had the secondary advantage of arresting the hill creep by stitching the surface strata and this has now been reduced considerably to the advantage of the school and the immediate neighbours.

The choice of superstructure was still fairly open and three types were considered: conventional brickwork and concrete, concrete frame and steel frame. The first was rejected because of the weight and the problem of support between piles. Either frame solution eliminated this problem but steel was chosen since it was considerably lighter.

These show the imaginative way the steel fame has been put to use by the teachers and children. The uncompromising way the steel has been handled has given the school a distinctive character

The policy of weight reduction was continued throughout the rest of the structure in order to economise on piles and the floors are in pre-stressed planks. The whole structure was designed to achieve the largest reasonable spans which would provide the most flexible plan and the least number of piles.

The main steel fame can be seen easily in the photographs and it will be noticed that the detailing is simple and functional but none the less pleasing and seemly for that. The roof is of channel reinforced woodwool slabs supported by steel purlins and is exposed internally for sound absorption and decorative finish.

The covered play area under the Junior Section showing cantilevered steelwork.

Walls throughout are fairfaced lightweight concrete blocks except in certain areas such as the Kitchen and Administration blocks where they are plastered. Externally, the block walls between windows are clad in bronze coloured plastic siding. The structural steel is painted dark brown and its dominant quality inside helps to define the separate areas in the open plan layout. The large panels it provides have been put to good use by the school as can be seen in the photographs.

Clearly this was a difficult site and in the circumstances the building was quite economic. The cost of the land was quite low so that altogether the school compared favourable with those built in easier conditions.

A corner of the Junior Section.

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