Hallfield School
London, United Kingdom 2001–2005
Client: Westminster City Council Grade II* listed RIBA Award for Building in a Historic Context
This project at Hallfield School in west London is an extension to a much-loved modernist icon, one of the earliest works of the architect Denys Lasdun. The school was built in 1955 and is Grade II* listed.
The project involved the construction of six new junior classrooms and three new infants’ classrooms in the garden area of the school. The new buildings were required to replace temporary accommodation that had been on the site for more than twenty-five years. The design for two compact buildings, one for the junior school and one for the infants, allows each to be next to its own part of the school and preserves the playground spaces. Each building is placed as close to its neighbour as possible, so that the spaces between have shape and intimacy, as is the case with Lasdun’s composition. The new buildings appear to have joined the group, carefully closing off views from the centre of the site as if they are the last pieces of a complicated jigsaw.
The plans of the new buildings form spiralling clusters of three major rooms, where each classroom is on a corner with a wide aspect over the site. The large windows to the hallways and generous glazing at the doors to the classrooms allow glimpses across the deep floors from room to hall to outside, such that the interiors feel open and full of the sum of everyone’s activity.
Drawings
Site plan
Infants school, ground floor plan
Junior school, ground floor plan
Junior school, first floor plan
Infants school, cross-sections
Junior school, external wall detail
Junior school, stair detail
Credits
Location
Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Date
2001–2005
Client
Westminster City Council, Hallfield School
Area
1,200m²
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John
Project team
Lorenzo De Chiffre, Rod Heyes, Prisca Thielmann, Silvia Ullimayer, Esther Waterfield
Structural engineer
Price & Myers LLP
Services engineer
Max Fordham LLP
Cost consultant
MH Jackson & Associates
Main contractor
Lakehouse Contracts
Photography
Hélène Binet
Awards
RIBA Award
RIBA Award for Building in a Historic Context
Related projects
Heong Gallery, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2013–2016
Lycée Hôtelier de Lille
Lille, France
2011–2016
Dining Hall, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2005–2009
Schulhaus, Neuhausen
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland
2015–2020
Düngerbau
Uetikon am See, Switzerland
2022–present
Riverside Project, Magdalen College
Oxford, United Kingdom
2022–present
Royale Belge
Brussels, Belgium
2019–2023
Darwin College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2018–present
Warehouse, Wiedikon
Zurich, Switzerland
2019–2021
Deutsche Werkstätten Campus
Hellerau, Dresden, Germany
2019–2021
Gladstone's Library
Hawarden, United Kingdom
2018–2020
Peterloo Memorial
In collaboration with Jeremy Deller
Manchester, United Kingdom
2018–2019
Museum for a Roman Villa
Pully, Switzerland
2017
United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial
In collaboration with Marcus Taylor and Rachel Whiteread
London, United Kingdom
2016–2017
Canterbury Cathedral Organ Loft
Canterbury, United Kingdom
2016–2020
House in the Mountains
Tschiertschen, Switzerland
2015–2017
Neue Pinakothek
Munich, Germany
2016–present (under construction)
Görtz Palais
Hamburg, Germany
2017–2022
University of Basel Department of Biomedicine
Basel, Switzerland
2015–2018
Stockholm City Library
Stockholm, Sweden
2014–2019
Hospitalfield Arts
Arbroath, United Kingdom
2013 – present
Ozeanium, Basel Zoo
Basel, Switzerland
2012
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool, United Kingdom
2012–2015
Swiss Life Arena
Zurich, Switzerland
2012–2022
Bremer Landesbank Headquarters
Bremen, Germany
2011–2016
Musée Cantonal des Beaux‑Arts Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland
2011
St Gallen Cathedral Chancel
St Gallen, Switzerland
2011–2013
House for an Artist
Berlin, Germany
2010–2013
Sir John Soane's Museum
London, United Kingdom
2009–2012
Veemgebouw
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2007–2022
Nagelhaus
In collaboration with Thomas Demand
Zurich, Switzerland
2007–2010
Tate Britain
London, United Kingdom
2007–2013
Chiswick House Café
London, United Kingdom
2006–2010
Arts Council England National Offices
London, United Kingdom
2006–2008
Newport Street Gallery
London, United Kingdom
2004–2015
Education Centre, Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve
Essex, United Kingdom
2003
V&A Museum of Childhood
London, United Kingdom
2002–2007
Spike Island
Bristol, United Kingdom
2003–2006
Barbican Concert Hall
London, United Kingdom
2000–2001
Kalmar Stortoget
In Collaboration with Eva Löfdahl
Kalmar, Sweden
1999–2003