BDC Magazine - Online version December 2015 Issue - 216 | Page 11
news.qxp_feature 2 23/10/2015 13:50 Page 9
UPDATE
Lendlease’s Burntwood
School takes home coveted
RIBA Stirling Prize
Lendlease’s Burntwood School
project in Wandsworth has been
awarded the Royal Institute of
British Architects (RIBA) Stirling
Prize – the UK’s most prestigious
architectural accolade.
Designed by Allford Hall
Monaghan Morris (AHMM), the
£50 million Burntwood School
rebuild and refurbishment was
managed and co-ordinated by
contractor Lendlease and completed in September 2014. The
project championed a sustainable
transformation of the original
1950s school site in south-west
London and now offers students
an engaging environment in which
to study. The six striking buildings
within the re-designed campus
boast faceted concrete exteriors,
colourful geometric-tile detailing
and spacious classrooms filled
with natural light.
The RIBA prize, which was founded in 1996, recognises an outstanding contribution to the evolution of architecture over the
past year. In a close collaboration
between Lendlease and AHMM,
the new campus design was one
of the last schools of New
Labour’s Building Schools for the
Future programme and marks a
culmination of Lendlease’s diverse
ten-year involvement with AHMM.
Previous laureates of the coveted
Stirling Prize include Foster and
Partners for 30 St Mary Axe (the
Gherkin) in 2004 and David
Chipperfield Architects for the
Museum of Modern Literature,
Germany in 2007. Burntwood
School beat off stiff competition
for the 2015 prize, with Rogers
Stirk Harbour + Partners’ NEO
Bankside, MUMA’s The Whitworth
University of Manchester and Neil
McLaughlin Architects’ Peabody
apartment building Darbishire
Place also shortlisted.
The RIBA judges noted
Burntwood’s ‘quality, openness,
confidence and solidity’ and were
particularly impressed with the
project’s mature aesthetic and
fusion of new cast-concrete
spaces and original 1950s structures – two of which were
designed by Sir Leslie Martin –
retained on the campus.
Dan Labbad, Chief Executive
Officer, International Operations
at Lendlease, said: “We are delighted that RIBA has recognised
Burntwood School’s progressive
design, which ultimately achieves
its key purpose of providing a
wonderful learning environment
for students. It has been a pleasure working with AHMM to deliver this cutting-edge project.”
Paul Monaghan, Director of
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris,
said: “Schools can and should be
more than just practical, functional
buildings – they need to elevate
the aspirations of children, teachers and the wider community.
Good school design makes a difference to the way students value
themselves and their education,
and we hope that Burntwood winning the Stirling Prize shows that
this is worth investing in.”
9
Burntwood School is a girls’ secondary school and sixth form with
academy status, located in
Wandsworth, London. In 2014 a
£50 million project to revitalise
the original 1950s campus and
build a series of new educational
buildings, serving up to 2000
pupils and over 200 staff, was
completed. The scheme was developed by the architects AHMM,
who worked in close partnership
with Lendlease, Wandsworth
Borough Council and Burntwood
School. It provided a new integrated campus consisting of four fourstorey teaching pavilions, a new
sports hall and a new performing
arts building.