Building for a Better Future

Running school on a construction site?

This was the solution to creating a new school whilst needing to stay open for all students to continue their studies at Hampstead School. The ‘New building’ had reached 50 years of age and needed repairs and renovation. The Hampstead authority took this one step further and decided to build a new and modern block with top-of-the-line facilities and more room for the students.

The new building was planned to have 3 floors, each would consist of 2 bathrooms, faculty offices and classrooms. The ground floor would also house a new cafeteria and school hall, as well as a fully-equipped drama studio, music rooms and a staffroom. Not only this, but the performing arts equipment was set to be improved. It was planned to landscape the outdoor space to include 2 sports pitches and create a new sports building, with a dance studio and a multisport hall. Lastly, the South block was set to be renovated and all the classrooms and hallways renewed. The struggle with this was how the school would continue to educate during these improvements; the answer? Run the school around the construction.

At first this seemed an unlikely feat destined to fail, however Hampstead has proved countless wrong- by the start of the 2017 school year the newly named East block was opened to the students, shortly after came the sports building and the South block- now dedicated to Maths and Languages. Students across the school have enjoyed the increased outdoor space and sports facilities.

So how did the school do it? At first many found adjusting to the reduced space difficult, however, after a little bit everyone managed to work around the construction, knowing it would lead to a better school. Some outdoor space was cornered off and built on, once the work was finished everyone moved to the new block, whilst the old building was being demolished just a few metres away. The entire plan went off without a hitch and resulted in a beautiful school. Hampstead has been able to pioneer a path for other schools to follow in hope for better educational facilities for London’s youth.