St Jerome Primary School, Station road, Harrow

Rock Townsend was appointed by the London Diocesan Board for Schools to re-configure a former Wickes office building into an uplifting learning environment to house St Jerome Church of England Primary School, a new free school accommodating an Early Years Centre and 420 pupils aged 4-11.

The existing 3-storey building presented an uncompromising environment with small cellular rooms, poor levels of daylight and visibility and limited outside space. The place needed a drastic reimagination to reflect the aspirations and ethos of the school whilst still providing value for money in comparison to building a new school.

pupils playing the playground
site plan
main entrance foyer
view through glass screen to entrance lobby

Our proposals stripped away the internal finishes, M&E systems and lightweight partitions, avoiding costly structural alterations whilst enabling us to create a new layout that met the school’s requirements.

A new arrangement of classrooms, practical spaces, toilet suites, a flexible assembly hall and dedicated dining room was established, using a simple palette of finishes and colours to create a clean and spacious feeling. Accents of colour and internal glazing were used to aid wayfinding and create visual links between spaces, whilst a new reception area and external landscaping improved the entrance sequence.

The existing car park was transformed into a formal Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) and informal hard and soft play space, with new glazed folding partitions installed to the rear classrooms to provide direct access between inside and out.

Appointed in May 2015, the first phase of works including design, change of use application, tender and construction, was completed by September 2016 ready for the first intake of students. The project demonstrates a creative yet cost-effective approach to transforming restrictive and under-used office buildings into modern, fit-for-purpose learning environments.

pupils sitting at desk in a white class room
pupils sitting as tables and on the floor learning
pupils gathering in a class room with view out of floor to ceiling windows
pupils playing in the covered outdoor classroms
pupils playing in the covered outdoor classroms
pupils gathered and sitting on the floor listening to the teacher
staff room and kitchen facilities
newly created staff room with kitchen facilities
children gathered an sitting on the floor with coat and bag stands in the foreground
children gathered with a teacher in a large white room for activities and gatherings
children playing games in a large white room designed for activities
children running through a large white room designed for sports activities and gatehrings
a child walking along a corridor with a view through to children in class
school circulation corridors
view through to a classroom with children sitting and learning
lunchtime in the dining hall as pupils seat eating and assistants help
pupils sitting down to lunch as assistants walk round the hall helping
second floor plans 
ground floor plan
ground floor plan 
first floor plan
first floor plans 
second floor plan
sketch of corridors
sketch of Breakfast Club
sketch of classrooms
sketch of main entrance area

Client: London Diocesan Board for Schools

Location: Harrow

Area: 3,477 sqm

Value: £3m

Completion: September 2016

Contractor: Emerson Willis

Photography: Matt Clayton

RT Team: Mark Gabbey, Tim Robinson

children play outside in the playground in front of the main school buildings
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