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Ashmount School |
Theatre architect pleads for ‘all-glass’ school to be saved
THE leading architect who designed the Hackney Empire theatre refurbishment has joined the campaign to save Ashmount School in Archway.
Tim Ronalds, who won the prestigious Civic Trust award for his 2001 design, said the “all-glass” primary school in Hornsey Lane had been a major influence on him.
The building, criticised for being too hot in summer and too cold in winter, has been earmarked for demolition under Islington Council plans to build a new school on parkland in nearby Crouch Hill – at a cost of £6 million.
Mr Ronalds, who has lived and worked in Islington for more than 25 years, said of Ashmount: “It is the kind of building that when you get a glimpse of it you get a moment of pleasure. The structural problems of insulation that the council is talking about could be solved quite easily. It should be saved.”
Like Ashmount, the refurbished Hackney Empire uses cast-glass cladding on its roof. Mr Ronalds said he had designed two schools, in Watford and Brighton, using Ashmount as a model. He added: “The use of cast-glass cladding has inspired me. It gives the building a kind of shimmering appearance.”
Ashmount School was designed in 1954 by HT Cadbury-Brown, one of the principal architects of the Festival of Britain in 1951. Although attempts to have the building listed have failed, the school is on the council’s own “local list” of buildings of architectural interest.
But chairman of Ashmount governors David Barry believes children and staff have to endure “appalling conditions” at the school.
He said: “Despite the problems with the building as it is, the children have achieved really good things. We owe it to them to provide the best environment we can, within budget. The move to Crouch Hill, which has bi-partisan support on the council, gives us a real opportunity to do this.”
The council hopes to rebuild the school on the site of an abandoned sports hall in Crouch Hill Community Park.
But first it must convince the Greater London Authority (GLA) that there is no alternative to the metropolitan open land site, safeguarded under environmental protection rules.
James Dunnett, an Islington architect who would like to see the school saved, said: “There are two issues here. The first is that the existing building has fine qualities and should be preserved.
“The second is that the development will restrict access to the park. I understand the GLA are not very keen on the idea.” |
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