Construction Skills School

The project is set to be in use for at least five years and will provide valuable skills based hands-on learning to local people in the area. As a key driver, the scheme wanted to reflect the activities of making while reintroducing a sense of craftsmanship to the construction that has been lost in modern buildings. Importantly, the temporary nature had to reflect the way in which the facade system could be easily disassembled, recycled and reused at the end of its life.

The brief asked for an innovative and sustainable solution to cladding classroom blocks on the site while being flexible enough to adjust to the retrofitted cabins being donated to the project. In addition, the design brief sought ideas for incorporating landscaping around the site, making a softer edge and more inviting approach from Hackney Wick. The ambition was to create an active frontage so as to allow views to the activities inside the construction skills centre.

The buildings help to frame views and act as a signifier for entry to the park with its identity relating to the programme and activities within training school. The strong visual language creates a new marker, bounding the site and diffusing the conditions between the industrial feel of the existing buildings to the north, and the natural picturesque views from the canal.

Over time, the larch will silver, helping the merge further in the landscape. Made from filigree components of frames and screens, the facade celebrates an interest in construction and an idea of assembly; a solution that was able to transform banal classroom blocks through radically simple means.

Annual CO2 data was not provided