Architect(s) : Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Address : Settle Rd, ROMFORD, United Kingdom
Latitude/Longitude : 51.611494,0.239586
Photographs : Timothy Soar
Structural Engineer : WSP UK
Landscape Consultant : EDCO Design London
Contractor : Kier Construction London
Text description provided by the architects. Specialising in Science and Mathematics, the Drapers’ Academy is decorated with brick patterns devised using an ancient mathematical principle. It is sponsored by one of London’s oldest Guilds, and is set in parkland once occupied by an Elizabethan manor house.
The 1100 place school is on the edge of Harold Hill, a post-war new town built on the outskirts of London on the historic Dagnam Park Estate. Our design takes full advantage of this parkland setting – large windows from the Main Hall and Learning Resource Centre look out across open countryside, while planting is brought in to a central courtyard. Teaching spaces also look out into the landscape and are bathed in daylight, some overlooking green roofs that complement the surrounding views.
The fuller history of the park is also expressed in the design as we took inspiration from Dagnam Park House, which stood in the park until it was demolished in the 1950s. The intricate brick detailing and room layouts are influenced by the sequence of rooms found in English country houses. Students take a learning journey through these spaces which moves through:
- Faraday science studios
- traditional laboratories
- pharmacy-style dispensing prep rooms
- a bio-dome to support biological science and horticulture
- a cluster of mathematics teaching spaces
To give a sense of solidity and elegance we chose a single brick material for the façades, referencing the grand houses that stood here before. The walls of the Sports Hall are divided into bays of brickwork, using the Golden Ratio principles of geometry. Subtly angled bricks create a textured façade that changes as light moves across it. In some lights it looks like richly woven fabric, appropriately for a school that derives its name from the ‘Mystery of Drapers of the City of London’ (here mystery meaning skill). The organization is now a sponsor of educational charitable trusts, but was originally founded as London’s medieval guild for the cloth trade.
The school’s other sponsor, Queen Mary University, provides students with valuable links to the university’s wider facilities and higher education opportunities.
Contributed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
