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Print articleThe spectacular new ?7 million Larmenier & Sacred Heart Primary School, in Hammersmith, was officially opened Wednesday with a Mass of Dedication led by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
The strikingly modern building, in Brook Green, features solar panels and a roof covered with an Alpine plant called sedum, which keeps the school warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The panels on the roof will generate ten per cent of the school's power. The design has also allowed for the preservation of two 120 year-old plane trees on the site.
Other features include light-sensitive dimming controls on the light fittings, awnings outside the classroom windows, which automatically retract when the wind picks up, and lockers for all junior pupils. A spacious new main hall with a stage as well as a library, art and music rooms have also been incorporated into the new building, which has proved a big hit with pupils and staff since they moved there in March.
The modern, spacious classrooms are all equipped with electronic whiteboards to display lesson materials and teachers can control the temperature in each room themselves. Quiet spaces, or 'pods', have been created in the corridors for reading, artwork and work in small groups.
The building, designed by Studio E Architects, has a spiral design, calculated on the Fibonacci 'golden mean', which helps to demonstrate the mathematics of nature to children at the school.
The pupils were encouraged to contribute to their new school building by designing a print for the entrance canopy and awnings of the new building. The resulting leaf design was inspired by the presence of the trees in the school grounds, and enhances a teaching environment that has been designed to blur the boundaries between inside and outside, with maximum direct access from classrooms to external landscaped learning areas.
The project was managed by school governors in partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Governors have raised more than ?400,000 towards the ?7 million cost of the building, with the help of fund raising activities by parents.
Pupil Cameron Steel, 10, said:
?It's lovely. We've got a giant playground and our own lockers.?
Parent Enzo Maletta, who has two children at Larmenier & Sacred Heart Primary, said:
?They were up at 6am for their first day at the new school. They couldn't wait to get in.?
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said:
?I am delighted to be at Larmenier and Sacred Heart Primary School to bless the new school building. The children have had the great privilege of being involved in its design and are very blessed to be in such a lovely new building which puts a particular emphasis on the environment and the safeguarding of the earth's resources. I pray that their years here will be very happy ones, and may all connected to this new project give thanks to God for this marvellous achievement.?
Bernard Burke, the school's chair of governors, said:
?The new building is spectacular and is an inspirational environment in which to learn, with a layout and facilities which are much better tailored to the needs of the children. The pupils have been magnificent throughout the whole realisation of the new building and there are no words to describe Sister Hannah's commitment and dedication to this school.?
