Vanessa Nursery School

Vanessa Nursery School

A nursery school designed for the Vanessa Redgrave Trust by Fitch and Co (job architects Peter Crutch and Stewart McColl) between 1970 and 1972.

The building is constructed on a reinforced concrete slab with steel columns and a steel roof structure clad with wood wool slabs. External walls are panelled in red and cream glass reinforced plastic (GRP), internally lined with plasterboard, and internal partitions are formed in painted concrete block.

The plan is L-shaped, with the principal teaching range positioned along the north boundary of the site and the swimming pool range along the east boundary. A covered walkway extends from double doors at the centre of the south elevation to a garden room (originally annotated as a store), with an outdoor play area lying to the south of the teaching range.

The building is single-storey with a flat roof. The main entrance is set back at the west end of the north elevation, approached via a covered walkway open to the west and supported by columns; the single door is an uPVC replacement. The north elevation is dominated by three tall domed red GRP pods, flanked by office and ancillary spaces in cream GRP. The pods rise above the flat roof of the hall, providing ventilation and clerestory lighting to the teaching spaces within. Windows to the north pods are original single panes set within moulded oval panels. East of the third pod is a secondary door painted green, part of the original red, cream and green colour palette. A double pod positioned at approximately the centre of the south elevation accommodates uPVC double doors from the hall to the play area, protected above by the covered walkway. To its right is a single red pod, and to its left is a single door from the cloakroom to the play area. The reception space and a later cream GRP storage unit lie further west. Along the east boundary, the swimming pool range projects from the east end of the hall, with continuous replacement uPVC glazing on its west elevation. The walkway to the garden room features exposed lattice beams painted blue, leading to an oval garden room with a flat roof, rendered elevations, original reinforced glass windows and blue-painted timber double doors with tall glazing panels.

Internally, the plan form survives with little alteration, though the bright primary colour scheme has been changed. Modern partitions have been added to the west end to create a secure reception and cloakroom near the door to the play area. The headteacher's room is located at the west end of the hall, adjacent to the cloakroom and reception entrance. Toilets have been inserted at the east end of the hall where the original cloak area was positioned. The primary space is the open hall, with yellow-painted lattice beams partly obscured by an inserted ceiling but still visible. The pods on the north side provide small distinct play spaces, open to the hall and approached over storage secured below floor level. The south pods are fully integrated with the hall; the double entrance pod is now used as additional teaching space. A lozenge-shaped opening in the lintel of this door provides the only decorative feature; otherwise the building is plainly decorated. Many original cupboards with fittings remain in the ancillary rooms to the north-east of the hall, and the original paint scheme survives in the utility room. Doors into the swimming pool range are original. The yellow-painted lattice roof structure is exposed here, and the pool itself is unaltered, though wall tiles have been replaced. Changing and plant areas were not inspected. The garden room is a plain space internally. The play areas to the south-west are landscaped but with asphalt surfacing on either side of the walkway.