Playground Charlotte Sharman Primary School
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David Grandorge Download Original
The scheme replaces a previously uninspiring grey playground and is centred around two new timber structures, dubbed 'The Clubhouse' and 'The Stage'. These are linked by a new brightly coloured landscape painted onto the old tarmac.
Developed in consultation with the pupils, the scheme replaces a previously uninspiring grey playground and is centred around two new timber structures, dubbed 'The Clubhouse' and 'The Stage'. These are linked by a new brightly coloured landscape painted onto the old tarmac.
The ambition was to promote 'dramatic inquiry', a term which the practice became aware of whilst working with education psychologist, Brian Edmiston, and which encourages education through storytelling and performance, creating a space in which the children can act out narratives in imagined spaces.
The creativity of the children was unlimited and gave license to the playground being understood as a fantastic marine landscape whereby the new built structures and play equipment were flotsam.
The pavilions are sufficiently abstract to encourage renewed interpretations from a pirate’s ship to a space station or an oil platform.
The pavilions are constructed of a steel frame and decking boards affixed to plywood.
At a time of public sector spending cuts, the project illustrates how it is possible to effect positive change through small-scale intervention.
Data
- Begun: Aug 2009
- Completed: Sep 2010
- Floor area: 77m2
- Sector: Education
- Total cost: £47,043
- Procurement: JCT Minor Works
- Address: St Georges’s Road, West Square, Southwark, London, SE11 4SN, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: De Matos Ryan
- Client: Charlotte Sharman Primary School
- Main contractor: Robert Grzybowski
- Playground Safety Inspector: Morral Play Solutions
- Structural engineer: Price & Myers
Suppliers
- Tarmac Paint: Adbruf Hycolour 193
- Timber boarding: Russwood