Plymouth Grove Primary School,  Manchester

The Plymouth Grove Primary School is a 103 year old Victorian building consisting of three floors and two mezzanine levels.

The school currently is going through expansion due to the demand for places in the Longsight and Ardwick areas. Capacity is increasing from 345 to 445 and so is moving from one and a half form entry to two form entry.

There were 2 spaces identified for a makeover: The cloakroom, a sizeable room that was only in use for approximately 20 minutes per day. There were iron coat hooks fitted in the room that were also a safety issue to their height being a risk to pupil’s eyes. Following a survey about bullying, this area was also identified as an area that children felt most vulnerable.

The second space was the Old Kiln Room, which was used as a storage space. The school felt this space could be used as a flexible learning space.

Architects, Aedas came up with the following design concept:

“We started the process with design consultation sessions with pupils and staff at Plymouth Grove Primary. Pupils were asked to describe how they felt about the existing cloakroom and storage room and comments received described these areas as “creepy”, “damp”, “small”, “badly lit” and “cold”. For the library they wanted a bright, comfortable space accessible throughout the day. The staff added that the library should have the capacity to be used for group and individual study sessions.

The single space former cloakroom was divided into three open library zones; a group work area where pupils could view films and documentaries or participate in guided learning sessions, a rainbow reading area complete with beanbags, and a quieter individual learning zone with self modular seating and sofas. This flexible environment is able to accommodate a variety of learning and reading styles and offer more in terms of technology resources and storage provision. In addition to new carpets, lighting and furniture, the walls were painted in rainbow shading with favourite quotes and key inspirational words adorning them creating a bright, welcoming and inspiring place.

The upstairs storage room was transformed into a useable classroom with a variety or seating and storage to enable different types of group and individual learning and teaching to take place. ‘The Works’ is now a flexible learning space painted in a soft pastel blue to create a calming environment.”

The Makeover at Plymouth Grove took place on the 5th – 7th October 2009 and even had a special visit from the Dulux dog!  See the results below: