Former Alexandra Priory School and Alexandra Resource Centre

Former Alexandra Priory School and Alexandra Resource Centre

The buildings are constructed on a single level, standing on a concrete deck which compensates for the downward slope of the site from south to north. The space beneath the deck was originally designed for car parking but is now used as a self-storage facility. The community centre for the estate (listed Grade II) sits above the school's hall and kitchen, and one of the estate's raised walkways (listed Grade II) forms the roof of the youth club.

Former Alexandra Priory School

The school building is flat-roofed with a shuttered concrete frame. The walls are white Forticrete block and shuttered concrete, with chunky stained timber joinery.

The classrooms are arranged in two parallel ranges: a shorter range to the north and a longer range to the south, linked to the west by the entrance foyer, hall, kitchen, and staff accommodation. The classrooms are accessed from a glazed corridor which looks into a central courtyard planted with trees. Gardens for each classroom are arranged on the outer side of the ranges. The playground occupies the north-east corner of the site; from the far north-east corner, double doors give access into the youth club.

The school site is heavily screened from outside, with its only outward-facing elevation to the west. This elevation features a projecting canopy and deeply recessed windows, providing a ledge on which there are large shuttered concrete planters. The entrance to the site is to the left, a wide pivoted timber gate through which the view is abruptly terminated as the entrance-way turns sharply to the left.

Within the site, the elevations of the building are largely glazed. The fascias and soffits of the overhanging eaves are shutter-marked concrete with planters set behind and within. The classroom gardens are separated from one another by blockwork walls with large sliding timber gates, several of which have been removed. The boundary walls of the site combine cast concrete or blockwork with overhanging planters and timber fencing set within a concrete framework.

On entering the main foyer through the discreet right-angled entrance-way, the basic elements of the plan are readily evident. The hall opens to the left through full-height multi-leaved sliding timber doors, which can be pulled right back to join the hall and foyer spaces. The two classroom ranges lead off to the right, and the staff rooms and home-craft room are behind. The glazed walls of the foyer and corridors bring large amounts of light into the building and give views and access out into the central courtyard.

The brief demanded a higher than usual level of sanitary provision and plenty of storage space. The classrooms are well-equipped, each reached through its own lobby with WCs, and having a low-level sink unit and walk-in storage cupboard. A number of the classrooms have large sliding timber partitions so they can be interconnected with the adjacent classroom, allowing children of the same age group to be taught together as a larger group. The end walls of the classrooms are composed entirely of a large sliding window on a blockwork plinth and a glazed bi-fold door into the garden. The mullion-less meeting of the window and door allows the classrooms to be opened up to the gardens, and the position of the sink units means that children can arrange themselves right around it – some in the garden, some in the classroom. Internal doors are generally fully glazed with a deep-section timber framework, and wall finishes are predominantly exposed blockwork and shutter-marked concrete. Extensive use of south-facing skylights of varying size brings additional light into rooms and spaces throughout the building.

Youth Club

The youth club building has a concrete frame, shuttered concrete walls, chunky timber and glass doors, and aluminium-framed windows.

The building is sandwiched between the raised deck on which it stands and one of the estate's elevated walkways which runs above. The deck and walkway are supported on concrete pillars, which form the structural framework of the youth club walls. The main entrance to the building is from the west, via an external spiral stair which runs up from street level.

The building's two externally visible elevations are to the north and east, formed of shutter-marked concrete walls infilling the spaces between the structural concrete columns. Aluminium-framed clerestory windows run along the north elevation.

The interior comprises a single large room with columns supporting the walkway above, WCs, a kitchenette, and what was originally an office but is now a recording studio. A sound-proofed rehearsal room, which is not of special interest, has been built in lightweight timber construction adjacent to the former office. The main room is lit by the clerestory window and a large south-facing trapezoid skylight glazed in glass bricks. A door in the south-east corner of the room gives access directly into the school playground.