Westminster Academy, London Education Building, Sixth Form Images, Harrow Road Architecture
Westminster Academy London
Naim Dangoor Centre Building at 255 Harrow Rd design by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris architects
page updated 27 Jun 2014
Westminster Academy at The Naim Dangoor Centre
Location: 225 Harrow Road, London, UK
Date built: 2008
Design: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris – AHMM
Address: The Naim Dangoor Centre, 255 Harrow Rd, London W2 5EZ
Phone: 020 7121 0600
Shortlisted for Stirling Prize 2008
WESTMINSTER ACADEMY
Westminster Academy is a school that sets new standards for educational buildings, meeting the demands of a highly innovative and radical educational agenda and creating a place to learn, interact and aspire.
Located in a gritty urban context, dominated by the Westway, the aspiration was to create a new civic landmark in which the pupils, staff and wider community felt a sense of pride. The simple form of the school, responding to the need for a fully sealed building, has a bold, expressive façade stratified into large panels of glazing, vibrantly coloured terracotta tiles in green and yellow and a series of illuminated screens.
The rear elevation, facing the Westway, continues this stratification with deep, cantilevered balconies overlooking the terraced landscape and the Academy Sport building.
The plan of the school was driven by ideas of connectivity with a ‘market place’ on the ground floor physically connecting all the key communal spaces at this level and visually connecting to the whole school via the full height atrium with coloured sculptural roof.
This dramatic space embodies the needs of the new learning framework by operating as the lively hub of the school with a large central staircase acting as the main school circulation. Pupils are encouraged to plan their own working schedule and move between the café, informal working spaces, the library, the Green Room (lecture theatre) and the Sky Dining Room on the top floor.
Within the building, a palette of robust materials including raw concrete, painted blockwork, timber and acoustic baffles intentionally foreground the teaching environment and aims to encourage exhibition and display. Developed in collaboration with Studio Myerscough, the bold branding for the school and the spaces within, a rich colour palette and large graphic elements relate to the vibrant reality of urban life beyond the school walls and to an international community – both on the doorstep and beyond.
Location: 225 Harrow Road, W2
Westminster Academy at The Naim Dangoor Centre : Stirling Prize Shortlist 2008
For Westminster Academy, Westminster City Council, DCSF and Exilarch Foundation
The Naim Dangoor Centre: City Academy for 1175 students
Westminster Academy Awards
RIBA National Award for Architecture 2008
RIBA London Building of the Year 2008
RIBA Sorrell Foundation Schools Award shortlist 2008
Design Week Wayfinding and Environmental Graphics 2008
Best Incorporation of Daylight Award, Light & Architecture Design Awards 2008
Future Vision Award 2007
BCSE Award Inspiring Design – Secondary School 2008
Shortlisted for Stirling Prize 2008
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects
Location: 225 Harrow Road, London, W2, England, UK
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London Architecture Designs – chronological list
Architecture Tours in London by e-architect
Westminster Academy London The Naim Dangoor Centre building
Mies van der Rohe Award Nominee 2009
Key London Design by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Saatchi Gallery, Chelsea
image © Timothy Soar
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London, England, UK