Hollybush primary School, Derry

PHASE 1   

The school was originally planned as a cluster of classroom blocks laid out along a linear internal street to allow for future expansion and clarity of circulation. The classroom clusters relate to the keystages and are kept suitably small with 3 classrooms sharing a communal space.

The clusters give the school a domestic human scale and remove any overpowering institutional references which may intimidate an early years child.

The building was completed in 1993.

The building included the erection of a state of the art modular single nursery unit including play spaces.

PHASE 2

The building included the erection of a state of the art modular single nursery unit including play spaces.

PHASE 3

This involved a 3 classroom extension to the existing school. The original plan made the new extension relatively easy to construct as it did not interfere with the running of the existing school during the contract period.

The potential conflict of construction traffic with pedestrian traffic was overcome by careful negotiation between architect and adjoining landowner over use of a private lane for construction traffic.

The new block is designed to match the existing school and each classroom is orientated to receive sun during the day. The courtyards between the classrooms are also useful outdoor teaching spaces with their southern aspect and encourage children and teachers to explore new methods of teaching and learning.

The internal colour scheme is subtle and tasteful with strong colours used to highlight classroom doors and cloakroom spaces.