Hassenbrook Academy – New Entrance

Client: Hassenbrook Academy

The brief for this project was to provide a remodel and extension to provide a new main entrance for the Academy that acts as a landmark, a larger waiting area for parents and create a more pleasant and welcoming environment for visitors, pupils and staff.  

The Academy suffered with a very squashed reception area that was tucked into a corner that didn’t reflect the ambition or aspiration of the learning environment.

The development provides; an enlarged reception area with a new reception desk and seating for visitors waiting,  a meeting room to allow private meetings with parents without taking them into the school, an accessible toilet for use by visitors and a stepped and ramped approach.

The design incorporates two rectangular pods either side of a curved glazed façade to the reception area. This curve provides a softer, more welcoming form that is reinforced through the sweep of the roof line. It was important to the school that there was a lot of transparency to the reception area and that there was height to the space. Ease of access was also important.