Marlborough Primary School, London

Architect	Dixon Jones
Date Built	2017
Location	Draycott Ave, Chelsea, London SW3 3AP
Description
Speaking as a former teacher, I can say that the Marlborough Primary School is an amazing facility. Whilst occupying a relatively small footprint it offers a range of highly specialized learning setting designed to accommodate the needs of a diverse population of children as well as offering a number of outdoor recreational settings. However, the building project was not a straight forward one because it involved the demolition of a rather attractive Victorian school that occupied the site until 2015. The old school was deemed by some to be unfit for purpose but its demolition resulted in 1700 local residents signing a petition to protect it. During the demolition and construction phase the school de-camped into an adjacent former John Lewis warehouse. The only evidence of the existance of the original building is the presence of a number of stone plaques that once adorned the old building and have now been incorporated into the exterior walls of the new school and the school bell that is in a case in the foyer. The glazed bricks are also a nod to the nearby Michelin Building. The Dixon Jones website gives an insight into the details of the project, "... The Marlborough School redevelopment forms part of a wider regeneration masterplan for an area of Chelsea which also encompasses the adjacent Clearings warehouse site. Design proposals originally commissioned under John Lewis comprise three separate but interlinked schemes; The Marlborough Interim School, The New Marlborough School and the Clearings residential scheme. All three projects were awarded planning permission by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea in December 2013. .... The redevelopment of the Marlborough site had to address a challenging design brief. In addition to creating a primary school much larger than the original Victorian building, the brief also called for a separate commercial building – including office and retail accommodation – and a new pedestrian link to be provided on this dense urban site. Unsurprisingly the school says that they are, "... very excited about our new school which opened on 11th September 2017. The new school is spacious and light and generously resourced. It has state of the art facilities including outdoor learning spaces, two large hall spaces, a community room, a dance studio, a creative media suite, an art and design studio and a multi-use games area on the roof. Marlborough also has its own specialist autism provision."