Hunter Douglas ceiling adds architectural feature to school’s play area

A new London school certainly has the “wow” factor, after its high-rise play area was fitted with a striking Hunter Douglas ceiling.

In a pioneering scheme, Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School in Beechwood Road, Dalston, is having a new school that is incorporated into a mixed use-development.

The school, which sat on the original site as a single-storey building, will occupy the first two floors of a seven-storey luxury complex which will feature 101 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.

The pressure on the limited site led to developer Telford Homes coming up with an innovative solution for the school’s spaces by incorporating a covered multi-use games area (MUGA) and informal play area on the roof of the school but sitting below the residential element of the scheme.

It is this space that includes a striking bespoke ceiling design by Hunter Douglas, a leading global manufacturer of architectural products.

Hunter Douglas was appointed to undertake the manufacture and oversee the installation of the £106,000 ceiling after being introduced to the developer by Stockwool, the lead architect for the project.

Kevin Taylor, technical sales manager at Hunter Douglas, said that the two areas of the MUGA each comprised approximately 450m2 and was designed so that there were flat and undulating sections.

The initial specification was for western red cedar slats but this was later changed to solid timber larch grill, which is suitable for exterior use, and completed in 4-70-20-40 module. It is secured by premium quality sendzimir galvanised steel suspension rails and has a drop of hangers up to 1500mm, plus bird netting over the carrier system.

The ceiling not only adds a distinctive architectural design element to the play areas but also conceals the services to the apartments above.

“Although the design and manufacture of the ceiling grilles was fairly straightforward, the logistics of getting them on to the site and up to the second floor was trickier because space was very limited,” said Kevin.

“It meant many more journeys than usual to get the grilles up to the MUGA area and we had to use cherry pickers to get them to where we needed.”

The ceiling was installed by Bishop’s Stortford-based Oakwell Building Services Ltd – the first time the company had worked with Hunter Douglas and its ceiling systems.

The result is a striking ceiling design that enhances the new school’s covered multi-purpose games areas, one which is designated PE and sports activities and comprises a large climbing frame, three-lane running tracker, table tennis, air hockey, climbing wall and gymnastics zone.

The other includes markings for different sports, a separate spectator area with seating and a two-lane running track.

“The selection of the Hunter Douglas system has been a real success to the MUGA, creating an aesthetically striking waved soffit treatment that creates a visual break between the school and residential above,” says Lee Kirtland, senior technical co-ordinator at Telford Homes, which is masterminding the project, which also sees the development of the deluxe Vibe residential scheme.

“The use of the larch timber also provided a great balance against the aluminium down stand beams which frame it, and as because it is visible from both the street and second floor level, it creates a real ‘wow’ factor for pupils, teachers and locals alike.”

Telford Homes has worked closely with the school to create a facility fit for the 21st century that will be able to accommodate growing numbers of pupils. The new Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School opened in September 2016.