Montpelier Nursery
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The Montpelier Nursery is one of only three community nurseries operating within London Borough of Camden
Managed by a voluntary committee of parents, the nursey had been operating from a dilapidated temporary structure since 1983.
AY Architects’ prepared a feasibility study and obtained planning permission that unlocked funding from Camden’s Early Years Capital Programme to construct a nursery for 24 children.
The initiative was set up by parents for the community, a demonstration of self-help and persistence to the best ends.
The nursery responds to its site, a pocket park at the centre of a triangle of houses sloping downhill towards Kentish Town.
At the centre of the former Montpelier estate is a Regency villa, which sits behind the nursery and is used as a youth facility by Camden Social Services. The park is public and has three points of access.
The nursery managed a land swap with the villa and park to create a better relationship with the rest of the garden, while gaining more play area and offering a new bench in the public realm against the south-facing nursery wall.
Data
- Begun: Aug 2011
- Completed: Apr 2012
- Floor area: 136m2
- Sector: Education
- Total cost: £429,000
- Procurement: JCT Intermediate Building Contract
- CO2 Emissions: 14.54kg/m2/year
- Address: 115 Brecknock Road, London, N19 5AH, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: AY Architects
- Project architect: AY Architects
- Client: Camden Community Nurseries
- Structural engineer: Price & Myers
- M&E consultant: King Shaw Associates
- Quantity surveyor: Stockdale
- CDM Co-ordinator: AY Architects
- Approved Building Inspector: London Borough of Camden
- Main contractor: Forest Gate Construction
- Cross-laminated timber subcontractor : KLH
- CAD software used: Vectorworks
- CAD software used: Revit/AutoCAD/MicroStation
