Date
Author
Neil Shrubb
Chestnut Grove celebrates official opening
London academy Chestnut Grove has celebrated the official opening of its new redevelopment this summer. Visitors were given a warm welcome by steel pans, artwork produced by students, and the school’s own jazz band.
The new 800-place secondary school and 200-place Sixth Form – designed by rhp – replaced the previous 1970s school buildings which had reached the end of their life. Two new three-storey buildings housing the majority of the schools teaching accommodation including sports, drama, dance and dining facilities were thoughtfully designed and positioned to help rationalise the school’s accommodation, entrance and playground areas, creating a safer more user friendly school with large central open plan grassed play area and games courts – a rare feature in an inner-city London school.
Local MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, along with students, marked the official opening with a ceremonial cutting of ribbon with special named mentions given to rhp architects Clare Goode and Kevin Myers.
We are proud to have worked with such a wonderful school, and are looking forward to hopefully repeating the celebrations in 2020 with proposals for a new 250-place sixth Form Centre!
– Clare Goode, rhp