Grey Court glimpse

I took the opportunity of the school holiday to take a photograph of the new building on the Ham Street side of Grey Court but while the people were absent the leaves were not so it was only a glimpse.  What can be seen looks good though its the function matters far more than its appearance.

I am hoping to get a fuller picture in autumn or winter.

Clarendon SEND School is austere

I was fortunate to walk past the new Clarendon SEND School on Meadlands Drive when both gates were open to allow a large truck out and the man on the gate was away from his post guiding the truck out and away; that gave me a decent view of the frontage for the first time. I am not impressed.

As an office building this is fine but as a school I think that it is too austere and unwelcoming. I appreciate that is sits in a sensitive area but I do not think that is a good enough excuse.

Some progress at Grey Court

It has been a month or so since I lasted posted a picture of the new building at Grey Court and while there has not been much change in that time a bit more of the building is visible and enough of it to suggest that this is going to be a fairly traditional building.

Clarendon SEND School rises

The new Clarendon SEND School building is well underway and while this is the back of the development it is also the closest that you can get to it, as it is set well back from Meadlands Drive. From here it looks to be a staunchly traditional building with rectangular walls comprised of uniform bricks.

This may not be very exciting but it is appropriate for the area and is much better than the multi-coloured panels that many schools went for a few years ago, including the Kingston Academy extension on Richmond Road in Kingston.

Changes at Grey Court School

There have been many changes to Grey Court School over the years and while many of these have been incremental I believe that these works signal the demise of the futuristic pod.

I am sure the school has good academic reasons for removing this unusual building but it is an architectural loss. There is (was?) one at Meadlands School too but that is not visible from the main road.

Different views of Clarendon SEND School

Clarendon SEND School is set well back from Meadlands Drive which makes it hard to get a good view of it from there so I went into The Copse to take a look from the side. The details of the building are hidden but the size and scale can be judged.

The new building will clearly impact on The Copse because of the height and the extent of that impact will depend on the finish of the building and the cover provided by the trees.

There is not much to see from behind the school, other than construction clutter, and the final view matters less as it can only be seen from the access road to Ham Polo and the German School.

Clarendon SEND School rises

It is now possible to get an idea what Clarendon SEND School in Meadlands Drive will look like, albeit from a distance. It looks fairly conventional which while not a bad thing it is not a great thing either.

Clarendon SEND School

I was quite happy to wait for the new building/s on the former Strathmore site on Meadlands Drive to be build before discovering what they were only to have that surprise taken away from an information board on the site hoardings.

The diagram in the middle of the top row gives the new site layout and it seems it will be much like the previous school in form and function (though, of course, different specialist schools serve children with different needs and ages).

New play court

A new play court has been constructed in the extensive grounds of St Richard's CE Primary School in Ashburnham Road. It is early days and there are no markings or equipment to indicate what it will be used for.

It also has a separate entrance suggesting that it will be used independently of the school, at least some of the time.

Coloured panels

The hedge in the foreground, on Croft Way, has had a severe cutting back exposing some colourful panels at Meadowview Nursery.

Old Strathmore site

All that is left of the old Strathmore School is a large concrete slab.

I have posted pictures of this site before but not previously from this angle where the foundations are more prominent. This is the view from the lane to the German School and Ham Polo.

New gates at Malden Oaks

I did not post a picture of the previous gates at Malden Oaks simple because they were not interesting but changes are interesting (to me at least!) so the new gates do get a mention. The old gates were solid and, not surprisingly, sat between the gate posts, whereas the new gates are a less intimidating mesh and have been set back a few metres.

Danger Live Electric

My recent visit to The Russell School allowed me to get close to what remains of the old Strathmore School, which is this cube with the encouraging words "Danger" and "Live Electric" painted on in red. It does not look very official but it would be enough to encourage me to keep well away.

Butterfly bench

Unfortunately you can only see this lovely carved bench from the grounds of The Russell School, and even then it is quite well hidden. 

 Many years ago (25+), one of the reasons that we chose The Russell School for our boys was the amount of space there and despite the new school being larger there is still an abundance of space that is nicely zoned into different areas. This bench is in a wild garden area.

One side of The Russell School

The south side of The Russell School has open spaces on both levels for instructive play and also just to rest and enjoy the fresh air in a safe environment. It is all very impressive.

The building to the right is one of the four campuses of Strathmore School which is a separate facility with its own Assistant Headteacher. This was not part of the tour though as it was built to the same style as the larger Russell School it has that to its credit.

The Russell School from the back

I knew all the old buildings at The Russell School well because both my sons went there but the new building was a mystery to me until a Ham United Group architecture tour gave me the opportunity to visit it.

This is the view looking west across part of the play area to the back of the school. The design looks good with its use of brick and amble glazing and it also looks big, which was confirmed by the internal tour.

All but gone

The original Strathmore School has all but gone with only one small section of wall visible from the former entrance on Meadlands Drive.

A new school garden

The entrance to St Richard’s CE Primary School is in Ashburnham Road and the site stretches across to Woodville Road and it is from there that this new garden can be seen.

I like the business of the scene with the new beds ringed by a frame, glasshouse, plastic greenhouse and two compost  bins.

Demolishing Strathmore

The former Strathmore School building in Meadlands Drive is being cleared out and demolished and looks quite industrial at this stage.

Roof repairs

The roof of the main building of German School London is probably the most distinctive in the area and it sets the character for the building. Opinions are divided but I like it. And I like it just a little bit more when it is decorated with scaffolding poles. 

A much older school building, on the east edge of the site, next to Douglas House, has also had some roof repairs. The uneven colour of the roof shows a history of similar repairs and the latest will soon weather and mix in with the rest.