Ark Putney Academy

Hawkins\Brown collaborated closely with Wandsworth, Ark Schools and Lend Lease to develop a proposal which balanced the desire to retain as much of the original, while ensuring that the reimagined building met the teaching needs of a new academy.

The school comprises three blocks: a main teaching block, gymnasium and assembly hall, which are all structurally different and independent. The structure of the classroom block consists of four lines of circular columns carrying transverse main beams that taper and longitudinal secondary beams supporting the reinforced concrete floor slabs. Concrete upstands around the perimeter support the external glazing. Hawkins\Brown’s internal reconfiguration of the main teaching block – which includes a ground-floor dining area – illustrates the flexibility of the existing reinforced concrete structure.

The new sports hall is a steel frame building with an infill steel frame system, which supports both the external Steni rainscreen cladding and the internal birch-faced plywood lining. The hall is naturally ventilated through a zone of hit-and-miss brickwork at the east and west elevations. This air path is attenuated through the use of motorised dampers.  These sit within the metal framing zone and are accessed internally by removing plywood panels.

Both of the main curtain wall elevations were replaced with a modern thermally broken double-glazed system. This retained the original rigorous configuration while offering vast improvements to thermal and solar control of the building. The internal layout has been rationalised to modern teaching standards, improving the accessibility and people flow. The fire and acoustic performance has been similarly improved.

The existing staircase enclosures are glass-walled and the lightweight flights are free of main and side walls, being anchored directly onto cantilevers projecting from the main slabs, which creates a sense of openness and light. The previous gymnasium and workshops (which ultimately needed to be demolished) consisted of deep, pre-stressed main beams that were originally jacked into position. The main assembly hall, shaped like a 1950s caravan, consists of seven exposed concrete portal frames.