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Holland Park school plan slated by council review
Dominic Hayes, Education Correspondent2 Jun 2008
A plan for the most expensive state school in Britain was thrown into disarray today by a damning report from experts at the council that wants to build it.
Kensington and Chelsea wants to spend £72.6 million to demolish and rebuild Holland Park School, selling part of the site for flats to help finance the scheme.
But its own review panel of architects has branded the design " monolithic and relentless", criticised plans to use stone cladding, and warned existing architecture in the area had not been taken into account.
Residents have been fighting a longrunning campaign against the demolition and rebuild.
They want the original buildings at the Sixties school - dubbed the "Eton of comprehensives" - to be refurbished and its existing playgrounds and sport areas to be retained.
The architect's panel said they believed the design "would date very quickly", adding: "Though competent, the architecture failed to excite the panel." It found the use of reconstituted stone cladding throughout was "regrettable" and the overall height of the school building was "a cause for concern".
It also criticised the "monolithic, relentless application of a staggered façade throughout the development".
Housing provision in the scheme, meanwhile, "does not adequately respond to the predominant characteristics of the conservation area".
David White, of the Campden Hill Residents' Association, said: "This is a damning report from the council'sown experts and reinforces everything that has been said by objectors."
Under the council's plan, the reborn school would open in 2013 with ecofriendly buildings including a sports hall, swimming pool, badminton and basketball courts, a gym and dance studios.
The number of classrooms would fall from 94 to 75, but they would cater for the same number of pupils because they would be larger and use space more efficiently.
A central feature of the design is an atrium, intended to provide better visibility so teachers can monitor pupils as they move around.
But the project has been dogged by arguments for years because land would be sold off for development.
A provision to include some "affordable" housing for council tenants and key workers - including teachers - in the same block as the expensive flats has been scrapped.
The Conservative council says this is the only way it can make enough money from the sell-off to pay for the school, as the estimated price tag has spiralled from £60 million to £72.6 million in recent months.
Residents are hoping Mayor Boris Johnson will step in to block the scheme, as he has pledged to stop playing fields being lost to development.
A council spokesman said: "The architects' appraisal panel advises on design issues. Its views will be taken into account in the planning officer's report to the planning committee on 26 June."
Reader views (6)
i don't understand why people find this idea so wrong! if u actually attended holland park you would know that we DO need new facilities and we Do need a new school. This proposal is a good idea because holland park needs a radical change, an improved building for a much improved school.
- A Holland Park Student, London, 10/12/2008 11:18
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How many local residence objectors send their children to state school? Why are they really objecting? Has anyone looked at the current sporting facilities at Holland Park? The selling off of a corner of concrete will enable astro turf pitches, basketball courts and a swimming pool. These are proper sporting facilities which inner city children desperately need. Local children are entitled to the best facilities akin with Latimer and St Pauls. A re hash of the existing building will not provide this.
- Anonymous Educator, UK, 03/06/2008 21:48
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The proposal to sell the playing field to finance the rebuilding is quite wrong. Even worse is the proposal the the Council to build the necessary affordable housing on other sites purely to enhance the value of the playing field site to be sold for commercial development, as it is not only contrary to the Council's own planning policies, but will create a precedent which will make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Council to refuse to allow any other developer to construct the required affordable housing on other sites.
- George Law, London, United Kingdom, 03/06/2008 14:36
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Selling the school playground in a city centre is a discredited policy. The school does not need to be rebuilt: it is a category 5 school in "building schools for the future" (ie it benchmarks well against other UK schools, and the school inspectors have given the establishment a clean bill of health and results show a sustained improvement). The proposed cost of the rebuild is about 70% greater per square foot than national benchmarks. This is a Trophy project of the Council Leadership which is being pursued for personal political gain against the wishes of a large body of opinion from residents, professionals and commentators. Parents from the feeder primary schools have been kept in the dark. The Council has conducted a cynical and manipulative consultation process
- Donald Cameron, London UK, 02/06/2008 17:51
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The Council seem determined to ignore the wishes of their Electors and bulldoze through this highly inappropriate plan to waste £76.2 million on an ugly eyesore. The proposed sale of the South playground for luxury housing is a disgrace and that playground needs to be kept for the pupils to let off steam. A refurbishment of the existing buildings would preserve the character of the site and keeping the playground intact would be in the children's best interest. Please Boris Johnson intervene to stop this folly by an arrogant Council now.
- Anthony Coyle, London England, 02/06/2008 17:49
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RBKC said a prime purpose of the Review Panel was to warn the council about 'bad buildings'. The Panel as done just that
The RBKC planners now accept that the image of the school you printed is a false one. The school appears to be wrapped in a mirror-like material. Actually it is wrapped in wire mesh, which cannot act as a mirror and at the same time let light into the classrooms.
The local residents' alternative demonstrates in detail how the campus setting could be retained and updated at less than half the £72.6 million the council want to spend, with the added bonus of much greater sustainability.
- Tim Tinker, London, 02/06/2008 15:30
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