Kate Greenaway Nursery School

The new entrance welcomes visitors to the centre, with views into the reception area, while providing enough space for buggy and bike storage. The brief also included a new art workshop, re-cladding the existing building, and internal alterations to create a reception office, a larger kitchen and refurbished toilets.

The boundary treatment was designed to provide varying degrees of transparency: a brick wall and close-boarded fence gives privacy to the children’s garden, whilst the transparent central section allows views through to the entrance. The art workshop is located behind the brick wall, with clerestory lighting that illuminates the street on winter evenings.

Materials such as fair-faced brickwork, Douglas Fir and Western Red cedar cladding were selected for their durability and natural appearance. The standard metal fence panels and polycarbonate roofing that are fixed to the Douglas Fir structure, are an economical way of providing security and shelter.