Hoyle Early Years Centre, Bury, Lancashire
About the Project
- Principal designer: DSDHA
- Client: Bury Metropolitan Council
- Principal contractor: McGoff & Byrne
- Principal architect/engineer: Price & Myers
- Contract value: £695,000
Hoyle
Early Years Centre in Bury in Lancashire needed more space. So this facility
for children with special educational needs commissioned architects DSDHA
to extend and remodel its existing premises whilst building on its qualities - of
essentially being a pavilion organised around a courtyard.
A new steel
frame supports a profiled metal roof around 800mm above the top of the
original walls of the main nursery building, with the raised height infilled
by clerestory glazing, a principle extended to the new build.
The scheme is essentially split into two wings, divided by a glazed courtyard and library. The courtyard provides a natural heart to the school, encouraging a sense of well-being and flexibility of use while natural light animates the interior.
In summer, sliding doors to the courtyard and external
play areas are opened, adding transparency to the building, while improved
lighting
and natural ventilation throughout the building complement the calm
environments
essential for the Nursery.
The building reconnects the nursery to the community by creating new frontage onto the local park and a new view corridor through the building, radically changing its relationship to its surroundings.
The Judges said:
"This scheme has already won a CABE/DfES award for the new and imaginative thinking it has brought to the table in designing facilities in which children can learn and think. Sensitive and subtle, it uses robust materials, but the design makes them appear airy and welcoming."