Building Update 4
January 2015
The last few months have seen a flurry of activity with regard to the design and development of the site. Following the first public consultation in November, the concept drawings were reviewed and then discussed with the local authority planners as part of a pre-application process. Following the comments received the drawings were again reviewed and a second public consultation organised. This second public consultation took place on 15th December and was very well received with further helpful and useful comments being received.
The Education Funding Agency and Architect then met with the Islington Design Review Panel just before Christmas and they made a number of very helpful suggestions which has resulted in the need to redesign the school. The redesigned building now has the courtyard around the tree removed and realigns the building so that it runs parallel to Hornsey Lane. This has the effect of increasing still further the size of the playground and maximises the rooftop playground. Copies of the concept drawings will be available on the website as soon as possible.
The new design provides, in our opinion, a more efficient and effective building, but this does now result in a further delay for the submission of our planning application with the revised drawings being considered by a further meeting of the Islington Design Review Panel in February. This now makes it impossible for the planning application earlier than March and, with a 13 week period for Islington to consider the application it is now no longer possible that the school can move into the new building in September 2015. We are therefore now planning for the establishment of two further temporary buildings to provide the school with two year 1 classrooms. These are expected to remain on site for a term with the current plans to move into our new building in January 2016.
We are obviously disappointed with the delay and were clearly looking forward to moving into the new school at the start of the new school year. However we believe that the short delay will result in the provision of a better building for our pupils and a school that meets the needs of a 21st Century curriculum.
Over the coming weeks, the Design and Build team will be finalising updated concept drawings and we will be hosting another Public consultation meeting. This will give you the opportunity to view the concept drawings and meet with the architect team to share your opinions and thoughts on our revised scheme. Please do keep an eye out for further updates over the next couple of weeks in our newsletter and website.