Architecture Workshop Rome – London Nursery School Ideas Competition: Deptford Nurture Centre

COMPETITION BRIEF

Each child in England at the first school term after their third birthday, is entitled to 15 hours per week free childcare funding. Nursery schools and classes staffed by teachers and assistants, provide a non-compulsory phase of education suitable for children in the year before they immediately go to primary schools. They are sometimes attached to a primary school. Both types intend to provide a grounding for the child to start school, offering a range of structured educational experiences based on learning through play. A new kind of kindergarten design encourages kids to be their silly selves. What does a school do with 4- and 5-year-old kids? How should be the nursery of the future? How children should spend their days in these structures?

JURY

Moriyuki Ochiai Architects
Arch. Kentaro Yamazaki

DESIGN BRIEF

As a precedent for development along the Thames and its tributaries, the Nurture Centre is transformative in reclaiming the natural, sustainable and biologically diverse shoreline. By returning the shoreline to Deptford Creek, planting reeds, grasses, oysters and other filtration species, and allowing the tide to flow through the site, the Centre cleans the water and increases green space to be enjoyed by the community. Most importantly, engaging the children of London at an early age in sustainable concepts and providing visual and tactile access to nature through play, not only greatly enhances their personal development, but instills an appreciation for biodiversity and the natural world that, ultimately, benefits us all.

Team members included Jordan Gray, Erika Jolleys, Albert McDonald, Katelyn Ottaway, and David Pryor with ancillary/research from Doug Brinkley and Donna Francis.