Charles Dickens Primary School

Client:      Southwark Council

Budget:    £112,000

Date:        2012 - 2013

The original brief was to create a temporary play space that could be re-configured after a year when a new mobile classroom was to be installed for five years to accommodate extra children. The space also needed to offer permanent access to outdoor space for year 1 pupils that is  accessed by the rest of the school during playtimes.   A modular garden was proposed with decks and planters that could be re-arranged to create a new arrangement in front of the classroom when it arrived. A boundary was created between the garden space and the sports area that included planting, play bridge routes through the sensory planting, play houses and decks and a sand pit with wide edges for seating.  Seats were designed around existing trees with different heights for scrambling on and providing cosy corners. The gulley around the existing canopy was planted with a range of plants designed to survive in a planting pocket that is only 200 mm deep. The plants were set in a bespoke series of fibre glass planters to allow for easy replacement.  An irrigation system was included that can also provide a liquid feed to keep the plants healthy.