City of London Academy Shoreditch Park | London

City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park

LONDON

Year: June 2021
Cost: £43.7 m
Sector: Education (RIBA London Regional Award 2023)
Client: Department for Education | London Borough of Hackney | City of London Corporation

City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park, was the first building to be completed in the community-focused Britannia Masterplan project. The building is designed to provide a life-changing environment that encourages and supports all of its students to achieve excellent educational outcomes whatever their individual ability, needs or background, the building has already had a significant impact on student academic attainment.

Located at the heart of a dense residential area, the five-storey-tall school sits on the edge of the popular Shoreditch Park, directly opposite the new Britannia Leisure Centre. Despite being surrounded by greenery, this is in every way an urban school on a tight site. The building footprint was designed to maximise the playground areas, taking advantage of the existing topography to create an enticing amphitheatre playground. The sports hall, which has been raised up to first-floor level, shelters the playground space. A rooftop playground with city views allows for even more outdoor space on this limited site.

The interior is arranged around two atria with a primary corridor on each floor. Natural daylight and internal views through these timber-lined atria spaces produce a bright and comfortable school with a connection to its environment.

On the ground floor are the main hall, activity studio, LRC, dining hall and music department. The school acts as a centre for the community and so these spaces have been deliberately arranged to become easily accessible to the public. Clearly defined entrances on the street give it a civic presence and reiterate this purpose.

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