Before the transformation

Faded glory

The original Kingsdale School was designed by the then-head of the Greater London Council Architects’ Department, Leslie Martin. Martin, who would later gain a knightood for his work on the Royal Festival Hall, conceived it as a new model for school buildings. They were well-designed but cheap, full of light and air and very different from the towering brick behemoths of the Victorian Board Schools that then dominated the city’s low-rise skyline.

By the 1990s it had cracked and faded and was designated a school in “special measures”. dRMM stepped in to breathe new life into the school so that is could continue to serve another generation of pupils.

Kingsdale School before the transformation.
[1] Kingsdale School before the transformation.
Interior courtyard at Kingsdale School.
[2] Interior courtyard at Kingsdale School.
The facade prior to the transformation.
[3] The facade prior to the transformation.
Hallways so narrow you could touch both walls.
[4] Hallways so narrow you could touch both walls.