Flowery Field Primary School,

Hyde, Greater Manchester.

Primary School Proposal

Design & Access Statement

Rev A

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Aerial Photograph –site area depicted in colour

© Google earth

canaa water

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Contents

04_Materiality

Context

Materiality

05_Supporting Information

Schedule of Accommodation

Public Consultation

01_ Introduction

Overview & Brief

02_Site Analysis

Site Location & Description

Site Local Context photographs

Site Photographs

Site Opportunities & Constraints

03_Design

Design Principles

Building location

Use & Layout

Access

Way finding Strategy

Scale & Massing

External Learning Environment

Appearance

Landscape

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01 Introduction

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Overview & Brief 01_ Introduction

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The planning application described within this

Design and Access Statement seeks permission

to demolish the existing primary school (both

junior and infant blocks) located on the site and

replace it with a high quality three form entry

Primary School that aims the optimise the

potential of the site. The current school works

hard to assist the children from the surrounding

local community to reach their potential and we

have worked hard to achieve the design within the

overall budget constraints – thereby achieving best

value for money whilst striving to realise the

school’s overall ethos and vision.

The brief issued to the design team was to

optimise the potential of the site by exploring

options for a new three form entry primary school

that would fit into the local context whilst

establishing a clear identity for the school. A key

requirement was for the existing school to remain

operational whilst the new school was delivered.

Entrance to existing junior school Entrance to existing infant school

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02 Site Analysis

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The site in principle is a landlocked development hidden

behind established residential stock and contained by the

railway line running between Hadfield and Manchester. It

is currently accessed from the very modest ‘Main Street’.

The existing school is split across two sites separated by

the Flowery Centre Sure start facility.

The intention is to create a new, single primary school

incorporating both the infant and junior years. The

selected position of the new school building is a key

aspect to the success of this process in achieving a single

unified campus. So too is the form and scale of the new

building where the children and parents are currently

familiar with two small, single-storey buildings. The

response proposed gives careful consideration to both

these major aspects to present a good contextual fit for the

long term future growth of Flowery Field School.

Site Location/Description

02_ Site Analysis

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Aerial image with development site outlined red

Residential

Education

Leisure

Industry

Uses key

Existing Site Plan (Images via Google Earth)

Development Site

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Site - Local Context Photographs 02_ Site Analysis

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1.View down Old Road 2.View up Old Road 3.View up Bryce Street

4.View towards Bennett Street 5.View towards Flowery Field Train Station

6.View down Bennett Street 7.Thomas Ashton School

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Site – Existing School Photographs 02_ Site Analysis

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1. View of junior school main entrance 2. Junior school playing fields 3. View of junior hard play

4. View of junior habitat area 5. View of junior games court

6. View of Infant entrance gates 7. View of infant hard play

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Site Opportunities and Constraints 02_ Site Analysis

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03 Design

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03_ Design

Design Principles

The proposals described in the following sections have been

driven by good dialogue through the Engagement Process with

the EFA and the school. Through this process a detailed

understanding of the overall ethos and vision was achieved,

which has been instrumental to the final design outcome.

During this period the design team evaluated the vision and the

adjacencies prepared by both the school and the EFA, whilst

listening to the feed back at each design iteration via engagement

meetings. This inclusive process has informed the current

proposal to deliver a compact yet flexible school environment that

responds to the needs of the occupants. The driving factor behind

the proposal was to place the children at the heart of the of

everything the school does, whilst providing a safe, secure and

stimulating environment that will develop their skills and creativity

- which we believe has been achieved.

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03_ Design

Building location

The position of the building provides a number of advantages

both through the construction phases of the development and as

the finished campus. By locating the building as central as

possible to the main junior site the end result is a strong and bold

presence to the new school on approach from either direction (as

described below), much more befitting of a new enlarged school.

Positioned close to the existing dividing fence line separating the

main sport pitches from the existing junior school, the new build

can be constructed in isolation without any interruption to the

daily operation of the junior or infant school. It will be accessed

and secured separately from the school. Forming a construction

access into the southern edge of site from Old Road using the

Flowery Centre roadway enables this separation with the infant

school also accessed off Old Road remaining unaffected by

construction.

The selected position and form enables the new school to be kept

well away from the residential properties on both Lodge Lane and

Shelley Grove to the East and Northern boundaries, separated by

the playing fields. The position and form also allow good

provision of playing pitch areas and circulation spaces around the

school grounds. With the new building and parking located fully

on the former junior school site, the infant school site becomes

available for future projects such as a nature/science area. There

is the opportunity to develop a Forest School setting making use

of the existing hedgerows, planting and the secure boundary

fencing to expand learning personal, social and technical skills.

Site Plan

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From the outset we have looked to create a highly legible

plan form with a simple programme of spaces to respond

directly to the School’s key adjacencies and Vision

briefing. The composition of the individual parts reflects

the School’s structure of phased teaching. Arranged over

two storeys, the layout will have a familiarity to the staff as

the infant school and junior school have been organised

primarily by floor in the new school and therefore grouped

in a similar composition to their existing facilities. The

logical progression for the pupils through the teaching

phases is simply translated into the plans. Nursery and

reception years forming the Foundation Phase are located

at ground floor in a single teaching wing in close proximity

to the Lower Phase Years of Years 1 and 2, also grouped

in a teaching wing. Middle Phase (Years 3 and 4) is

directly above Lower Phase and close to the Upper Phase

(Years 5 and 6). The disposition of spaces as shown on

our meso diagrams develop the phased structure logic

and teaching structure into the desired adjacencies.

Through the sequence of Engagement meetings, these

progressed quickly into the Micro Adjacency diagrams

becoming the developed floor plans in this L shape form.

We have created discreet groups of spaces on each side

of the L shape so that pupils can get to know their school

gradually. The larger support spaces such as the main

hall, small hall, studio and LRC facilities are grouped

centrally over the two floors such that the phases can

equally access them and intermix through dining, PE, IT

studies, music and drama. This ensures the pupils mix

across the phases in a controlled manner/environment.

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Use & Layout

03_ Design

Macro Site Plan

Meso Plans

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Use & Layout

03_ Design

Layering is an important aspect of the simple plan with a

clear distinction between public to private spaces. Staff

have ease of control from the automated front door; the

draft lobby with reception window, to the general office

before entry can be gained into the school. The

administration offices are located immediately within this

semi public space and create a further control layer.

Teaching wings cannot be readily accessed without staff

accompaniment and are simply secured out of hours to

prevent unintended access. This logic continues up the

main staircase or lift to the first floor where the studio can

be made available to the wider community without access

to the two teaching phases being compromised again

supported by sufficent toilet facilities.

Micro Plans

Cutaway Sections

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Access

04_ Design

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Proposed Site Plan

The current junior school site is accessed solely from the very modest

Main Street. Currently, the school has daily difficulties with parents

unable to use a small existing car park on-site accessed from the

constricted Main Street with drop off and parking causing conflict on the

approaching roads outside school. Accidents have unfortunately resulted

in recent times and local resident frustration is evident. Our proposal is a

single in/out access road serving the new school from ‘Old Road’

passing the Flowery Centre with the current ‘Main Street’ access

becoming a dedicated pedestrian and cycle route giving total separation

from vehicles.

This will significantly assist the school in the promotion of non vehicular

access to the school whilst providing a significantly improved access for

staff, visitors and service vehicles. Both in planning and school

Management terms, this improved access will have the major benefit of

discouraging parents from ‘on-street’ drop off in front of the residential

properties by Main Street which creates significant disruption to the

residents during the peak periods. The proposed configuration of parking

and drop-off gives a simple solution for staff and visitors. The longer

approach road from Old Road reduces potential congestion for parents

bringing children to school by car. Dedicated disabled parking spaces

are located in front of the school close to the staff/visitor entrance.

Children arriving on foot or by bike have a dedicated route to the front of

school (with bike parking) then onwards into the secure playgrounds for

class access. Pedestrians will always be school side of the school

access road and will never have to cross vehicular traffic once on site. A

new lockable gate with access steps provided from Birdcage Walk allows

direct access into the playground and a secure school circulation area.

This access is managed and controlled by the school.

This configuration enables the new school to be simply serviced with

refuse collections utilising the service lay-by and the existing bin

enclosure without crossing pedestrian routes. Deliveries to the kitchen

also utilise the drop-off area outwith peak school arrivals/collection times

with a short distance for trollied items to the kitchen access. The sport

pitch maintenance access routes are via the new hard courts/play area

(to serve northern pitch area) or via a reinforced track adjacent to the

nursery external area (to serve southern pitch area).

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Access

03_ Design

Internal

Nursery & reception will access their departments from external doors that

are located within every teaching space, thus allowing these departments

to work independently to the main school entrance (due to staggered

pickup/drop off times). Once at the entrance pupils/parents will find shelter

under the enclosed play area before accessing the building through

independent entrances.

Year 1 & 2 pupils will access their respective classrooms via independent

entrances. During school hours pupils will use the associated classrooms’

independent external door for movement from class bases to external play.

Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 pupils will enter the school by their respective circulation

core and will filter through the school to their associated classrooms.

During school hours they will use the nearest circulation core (located at

the end of either wing) for movement from class bases to external play.

Way finding

Way finding around the new school is reinforced for the pupils by colour

and shape coding within class bases which is continued to cloak areas,

circulation routes and externally from play areas. In addition to signage,

this reorients the children moving between areas for teaching, PE, dining,

toilets and play as well as giving them ownership of their specific spaces.

This way finding strategy will feature on wet area flooring, key feature walls

of the class base, cloak area alcove, stair wells, toilet lobby area and on

external rendered walls enclosing the specific classrooms.

Community Access

Located in a recognised area of deprivation, the school must work hard to

support its pupils and their community. With high levels of free school meal

entitlement and mixed ethnicity groups in the catchment area, the

community function is an important role. Our proposal creates a Hub area

at the heart of the plan within easy access from the main entrance. This will

be easy for the school to manage and control out of hours as well as for

assembly and performance functions through a normal school day. It

therefore encourages community access and involvement of this diverse

demographic. The community spaces are well supported by proximity of

suitable toilet facilities, the DT Practical room and other dedicated storage

spaces such as the PE store for both halls and the music store to the

studio at first floor. Circulation Diagram

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Wayfinding Strategy 03_ Design

The proposed form locates a rich cluster of community accessible spaces at the

heart of the plan within immediate reach of the main entrance. The building form

conveys this with a strong two storey box housing the double height large hall, the

small hall and the studio above. Two simple wings of teaching accommodation then

connect at 90 degrees giving a simple ‘L’ shaped plan. On approach from either Main

Street or The Flowery Centre, the community box is easily read.

By creating an ‘L shape’ building plan, the total building length is brought down to a

very manageable scale with a simple programme of two equal double banked

classroom wings. This disguises the fact that this is a significantly larger building than

the combined infant and junior schools it replaces.

The main entrance, located at the front of the administration accommodation, is

purposefully single storey to give a human scale on approaching the front door into

the scheme. This diminutive scale is more welcoming, less imposing and less

institutional for the children and community. The entrance feature is accented in a

bold swipe of colour to the entrance fin wall creating a way finding tag from distance.

A brise soleil canopy leads visitors to the entrance where the canopy becomes a

glazed solid to offer weather protection at the front door. The automated entrance

doors form a draft lobby into the school which enables controlled access from the

overlooking general office/reception. Parents and visitors can be admitted to the

interview room from the lobby where a staff member can meet them before

progressing into the school if desired.

The modest scale of the entrance masks the larger hub comprises the Community

access spaces such as the halls and studio. These are located at the threshold to the

school forming a hinge between the two teaching wings. The double height hall in this

hub is broken down in scale with light contrasting colours and upper level windows

set into a strong, darker box form. Its simplicity and predominantly darker colouring

reduce its visual impact. The teaching wings, both two storey, are bright and fresh

with generous window to wall proportions bringing excellent natural light into the

class bases that they predominantly enclose. The expanse of windows combined

with the bright render sitting on a facing brick plinth gives a warmth and unimposing

feel to the elevations. This ensures that the main elevations are not overwhelming for

the children moving into their new school or arriving for the start of their nursery

experience. Canopies over ground floor early years classrooms provide external

covered learning spaces and further break the building scale down in the children’s

immediate environment. The resulting wing lengths combined with their split pitched

roofs, present a gentle scale to the new school approximately half the length of an

equivalent single linear building. The L form creates a series of surrounding external

spaces which can take on a variety of characters to suit the four learning Phases of

the school. This is formed by the combination of learning spaces abutting classroom

thresholds and the wider play, courts and pitches. The building form gives more

personality and flexibility to the resulting spaces than a singular strip of space to one

side of a linear building.

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Scale & Massing 04_ Design

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03_ Design

Spaces have been organised to provide strong

internal links to the external learning environment.

Covered teaching areas are provided to the nursery,

reception and Year 1 classrooms, offering an

extension to classroom based teaching and connect

these spaces to the external landscape. A suite of

spaces has been designed to accommodate a range

of uses, future adaption and to suit the formal

curriculum and the informal and social activities of

pupils to support curriculum delivery and community

activities. These include a series of external areas;

both hard / soft landscaping. External private spaces

are not subject to public view / overlooking

External Learning Environment

Covered Play Area

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Appearance 03_ Design

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Appearance 03_ Design

Flowery Field is proposed in complementary

robust and strong materials to help build a wider

integrated campus feel. Our solution

complements the recently completed

educational developments in the area which

offer useful material context. Hyde Technology

College, The Flowery Centre and The Thomas

Ashton School are modern, crisp school facilities

in simple palettes of render, brick and cladding

with extensive glazing. In sharp contrast to the

traditional residential forms of the Hyde terraced

streets, they stand out as beacons of investment

and future achievement for the area.

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Appearance 03_ Design

1. View of Entrance

2. View of Rear Play Area

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Appearance 03_ Design

Predominantly white render on a

plinth of brickwork, the two storey

building will be fresh and light with a

bold highlight to the central halls,

highlighting the entrance and

community functions. Fresh colour

panels will build way finding keys for

the children from internal classroom

finishes through to the external

elevations. Initial responses through

the engagement process have been

positive.

3. View of Approach

4. View from Main Site Entrance

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Appearance 03_ Design

FROM FLOWERY CENTRE

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Landscape 03_ Design

The organisation of the external spaces are based on a phased structure. The

phases are expressed in a logical and sequential layout, whilst allowing

maximum spatial flexibility and movement between phases to cater for various

school activities throughout the year and changing curriculum needs. Each

phase has an access to hard & soft play spaces, study and intervention areas

tailored to the age specific demands and requirements expressed in the

Education Design Brief.

Existing legacy equipment will be incorporated into the new scheme (subject

to their condition). The nursery play area is situated adjacent to the entrance

plaza, providing the direct access route from the drop off space main entrance

plaza. The area is securely enclosed, buffered with trees, hedges and

ornamental shrubs to create a sheltered woodland ‘exploration’ feel to the

space. The space incorporates an all-weather covered area, secure storage

space and various play areas and tarmac markings which relate to the six

Areas of Learning.

The reception play area is situated facing the Lower and Middle Phase play

areas. The space is enclosed with low timber face with double gates that can

be locked open. However the layout is carefully designed to maintain

coherence with other phases and to allow for communication and intervention

with older children.

The ‘divisions’ between Lower Phase (Y1 & Y2), Middle Phase (Y3 &Y4) and

Upper Phase (Y5 & Y6) are less articulated to create flexibility of school

ground usage and movement.

The Lower Phase class gardens are created around the Lower Phase wing,

allowing flexible movement between inside and outside spaces. The series of

spaces allow for variety of activities such as outdoor learning, soft play, habitat

studies and social intervention. It will have easy access to relocated hard

courts and playing fields.

The Middle Phase play areas are situated between Lower Phase play and

southern playing fields, accessed via steps at the end of their Middle Phase

wing. This allows their direct access to small group play areas as well as hard

courts and playing fields.

The Upper Phase area is to the north of the building, and accessed via

staircases leading down two steps from the Upper Phase wing. The Upper

Phase Plaza is a flexible space buffered by a grassed area and ornamental

shrubs and trees. This space provides older pupils with a ‘dedicated’ space for

outdoor teaching, group studies, social learning intervention and nature &

science studies. The hard play area with sport marking are provided adjacent

to the plaza, connecting to the northern playing fields. Markings are to be

decided with the school and could consist of football, netball, kwik cricket and

mini tennis.

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Landscape 03_ Design

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04 Materiality

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Context 04_ Materiality

‘a high quality

simple approach’

Recent new educational developments in the

vicinity offer useful material context. The Hyde

Technology College opposite the site on Old Road,

The Flowery Centre on the adjacent site and The

Thomas Ashton School at the junction of Old Road

and Bennett Street are modern, crisp school

facilities in simple palettes of render, brick and

cladding panels with extensive glazing. In sharp

contrast to the traditional residential forms of the

Hyde terraced streets, they stand out as beacons

of investment and future achievement for the area.

Whilst a more modest scale, The Flowery Field

Primary School is proposed in robust and strong

materials to help build this wider integrated campus

feel.

Hyde Technology College

Thomas Ashton School

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Materiality 04_ Materiality

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Materiality 04_ Materiality

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Materiality 04_ Materiality

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05 Supporting Information

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Schedule of Accommodation 06_ Supporting Information

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Public Consultation

Following a very positive public consultation, below are a

series of statistics that were received from the event:

• 97% of respondents supporting the proposals to improve

the school accommodation.

• 96% of respondents supporting the proposal to create a

single modern school.

• 97% of respondents feeling the design of the new

building is appropriate.

• 94% of respondents supporting the proposals for

pedestrian only access via Main Street.

• 93% of respondents considering the car drop-off point is

a good idea.

• 96% of respondents being happy with the type and

quality of play space and sports provision.

• 97% of respondents being happy with the proposed

arrangements for phasing and the construction process.

• 96% of respondents feeling the proposed development

will make a positive contribution.

A range of positive comments were received as follows:

‘Fantastic idea. Well overdue’.

‘I can’t wait for it to be built and also the children can’t wait’.

‘I think the new school will be great and will improve their

learning’. Public Consultation Presentation Boards

06_ Supporting Information

Document Ref 5257/3.01/1.0

Author jmarchitects

9A St James

79 Oxford Street

Manchester

M1 6FQ

0161 200 6300