The outdoor learning centre at Short Wood is nearly completed and our feet can barely contain themselves!
We have gone for a rustic hardwood floor over recycled glass insulation. The high insulation values helped achieve the triple A status for the building and the floor is good enough to lie down on!
Meet ‘The Mole’ an environmentally friendly, quick solution for trenchless tunnelling.
We needed to find a way to send 120 metres of 25mm thick armoured cable through the school grounds including under the playground from a power source to the outdoor learning centre. We asked the children to help solve this mathematical engineering challenge. It was a fascinating event with the children completely absorbed in measuring, problem solving and even tracing the below ground drilling by jumping up and down when the vibrations tickled their feet ( all very scientific!)
Sometimes called no dig or HDD (horizontal directional drilling), ‘The Mole’ is specialist machinery powered by compressed air. The Mole can work in the smallest of spaces with minimal disruption and is steerable via a camera and monitor with an accuracy to within 25mm. Underground installations distance (up to 120m can be achieved in a single drill shot) and the magic of seeing a piece of metal go down a hole and emerge 120 meters away in exactly the right place delighted the children.
The disco dancing decorators get groovy painting the Outdoor Learning Centre!
We are getting close to completing the building on the Outdoor Learning Centre at Short Wood Primary School. It’s been a great project so far and today we were progressing very sensibly and serenely………………but then the beats came on the radio……..and we got down baby……and I think I’m starting to get a bit concerned about some of our behaviour!
Completing the plastering on the outdoor learning centre at Short Wood primary school made us appreciate the aesthetic values evident in the art of plastering!
It is a significant milestone on any design and build process to get the plastering done and dusted. It means completion is close and the finish on the walls can be an emotional experience!
The lads were under a bit of pressure and their performance involved precision, risk taking and fluid harmonious movement, just like ballet!
The ‘Walk of Words’ is a new creative learning space designed and built to inspire creative teaching and learning and make literacy irresistible!
Blurring the lines between construction, sculpture, artisan and architectural design, we created a space that is practical and beautiful, and all in just seven days during the half term break! Featuring a quiet room ( inspired by treehouses) a’ peace deck’ ( pick out the words in the architecture) and numerous surprise and delight features, the ‘Walk of Words’ is a valuable new inspirational addition to the school facilities that will inspire a love of words.
There are unused spaces in most schools that with a bit of creative consultation with the school community can be transformed into something magical that will extend and enrich the curriculum. We believe spaces provided for learning should reflect high aspirations and demonstrate care and respect for the people who are going to use them.
The deign and build of the ‘Walk of Words’ has had an immediate positive impact on the school community putting smiles on many faces. We will be working with teachers and children on creative literacy workshops to facilitate them taking complete ownership of the space and to help them use the space to it’s fullest potential.
We have just completed a commission to change an unused part of a primary school into a beautiful environment to inspire literacy.
Working through a creative process and executing ideas that transform a negative space into something inspiring requires a clear vision, teamwork and sheer hard graft.
Working on a project of this nature, where creativity, problem solving and intense physicality blend can produce moments of zen like focus, during one of these moments I paused to reflect and appreciate our hands. Hands are like feet, we use them all the time, often unconsciously, but they are amazing.
Hands communicate, they create and shape our world and help to make our lives what they are, this short film is a tribute to them!
Fitting oak doors on a new outdoor learning centre (we are building) provided a special moment to admire a wonderful majestic oak tree. The winter sunshine bathed the tree in a golden light and we just had to take some time to enjoy a gift from nature.
This short film and poem was inspired by our encounter with a wonder of the natural world and our meeting with a truly remarkable tree.
The Majestic Oak
The wise Majestic Oak standing tall
Seeing, listening, inspiring, inviting us to see
The simple, unquestionable truth.
Does she possess everything?
Everything we need to understand
The world around us, who we are, who we can become?
Her roots, bark and branches are
The skills, knowledge and values we
Aspire to acquire, to live in harmony with.
The wise Majestic Oak standing tall,
Never judging, never demanding, never questioning
Just being, the simple unquestionable truth.