Lavender Pumphouse

Located in Rotherhithe, South-East London, this new nursery school for Hatching Dragons, a bilingual Mandarin-English nursery provider, is a welcome addition to the local area. It is the second project in an ongoing collaboration between EDA and Hatching Dragons. The first phase of the project was conceived as a room within a room to allow for the ongoing development of the site whilst the building is occupied. A lightweight, quick construction methodology was used to facilitate this phased approach. The project comprises two main spaces for different aged children, one within an existing room and the second in a constructed room in the center of the main hall. Built simply, using full sheet materials and mechanical fixings, the room within a room was designed to be taken down and reused with ease. Timber studs of the walls are exposed to create inset shelving and polycarbonate cladding creates windows. Materials are carefully chosen for durability and to ensure that the educational resources are not overwhelmed. Naturally finished plywood offers a more robust datum and is painted black in one area to form an integrated blackboard. Large circular openings have been cut into the exposed joist ceiling to allow natural light into the room from openings in the existing building. A sensory garden was created in collaboration with Jacqueline Dodman, using reclaimed olive barrels, timber sleepers, and masonry. A large sandpit, bee hotel, and seating areas are surrounded by herbs, fruit, and vegetables to create an educational environment for play and exploration. The existing cobbled stones were retained with a new soft play surface made of recycled tyres was laid. A method of ‘retain, reuse, and repair’ was central to all aspects of the design.