Building a new Peckham Rye Playroom

The Building Exploratory has been appointed by Southwark Council to speak to local people about creating a new, fit for purpose building for Peckham Rye Playroom.

 Peckham Rye Playroom last Summer when the weather was much better than it is now!

The hut in which the Playroom is based was originally one of a group of huts built during WW2. They were originally built as barracks for anti-aircraft gunners based in Southwark Park and later were used to house Italian POW's. You can find out more about the history of the park here

The Playroom is housed in the last of these huts but is sadly becoming unfit for purpose, so the intention of Southwark Council is to build a new purpose built home for the Playroom.

This week we have been speaking to lots of parents, carers and staff about what they like about the current facilities and what their priorities would be when building the new Playroom.

If you attend sessions at the Peckham Rye Playroom, we would like to hear from you about how you use the facility and about any ideas you have that could improve the new Playroom.

Keep an eye out for upcoming events where we will be speaking to more park users and local people about the new plans. We will also be providing opportunities to find out a bit more about the history of the park and get involved in some creative activities.

To let us know your thoughts or to find out more please email us

Seasonal Best Wishes from the Building Exploratory

Islington Group: End of term review

Our end of term review with the Islington History and Architecture Group took place this week. One of the group’s highlights this autumn was our recent visit to the offices of architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) which proved to be a fantastic learning experience. Inspiration for the visit came from an earlier tour of AHMM’s Angel Building where the group saw how a redundant office block has been transformed into a new landmark building. 

 

The tour of the AHMM office was led by their Events Coordinator Claire Pollock who had organised for the group to explore their offices located in the Morlelands Building on Old Street. The tour included a look at the model workshop where the group learnt about the practicalities of model making and a visit up to their recently extended upper floors and roof terrace with amazing panoramic views across London. During presentations from members of the AHMM team the group were given an introduction to the work of the practice and learnt about the process of designing and completing a building.

The group also met with an architect who had worked on the Angel Building which proved to be of particular interest to the group. They were fascinated to hear an in-depth description of the design and construction process of a building they knew as it helped them to see it through the eyes of an architect. This led them to understand the thinking behind features that they would have otherwise overlooked such as the building’s new curved façade which mirrors the curve in St John’s Street; the perfectly smooth concrete columns with their formwork holes purposefully left unfilled. This information helped to unlock the process of design, allowing them to make sense of the building and see it in a completely new light:

“I’ve never appreciated concrete before!”

When we spoke to the group about the visit their response was overwhelmingly positive. What they appreciated was being face to face with people who design buildings and having an opportunity to ask questions. 

“I enjoyed meeting highly knowledgeable people and seeing what they do” 

They agreed that this had given them insight into the world of architecture (which had no prior knowledge of) and it had also helped the them to better appreciate and value what architects do. The visit to AHMM highlighted that going to architecture practices can be a valuable learning experience – it has inspired our group to visit more in 2014.  

The Islington Architecture and History group is aimed at older people who live in Islington. The programme is funded by the Cripplegate Foundation, to whom we are very grateful for their support. For more information on this project and our work with older people please visit our website or call us on 0207 6080 775

Heritage Counts: Discover Haggerston

We are delighted that our Discover Haggerston project has been included by English Heritage in their  'Heritage Counts: London' report for 2013.

You can access the report here - Heritage Counts: London

 

Our 'Discover Haggerston' page, complete with interactive map of Haggerston's listed buildings, is now up and running and can be found on our website at www.buildingexploratory.org.uk/listedhaggerston

Listed Haggerston is part of the My Haggerston project run in partnership with Discover Hackney.

Cripplegate Foundation Funding News

Following on from a very successful one year pilot project, we are delighted to announce we have been awarded a two year grant by the Cripplegate Foundation, to continue developing our work with older people in Islington.

Over the next two years we plan to continue working with our Islington History and Architecture Group, and to engage more isolated and harder to reach people. We also aim to identify ways in which older people can become more routinely involved in commenting on local and regional development plans and built environment policy. 

 The group visits the new and old Highbury stadiums with Sami from Aresnal in the Community

The Islington History and Architecture Group gives older Islington residents access to unique opportunities to learn about their local history and architecture through talks, tours and visits to buildings, regeneration projects,  green and public spaces.

 On a walking tour of Islington with Billy from English Heritage

For more information on our work with older people in Islington and in Hackney, please visit our website or contact karen@buildingexploratory.org.uk

The Cripplegate Foundation is an independent charity working in Islington and parts of the City of London. Their vision is of a society free from poverty and the effects of inequality, where the potential and aspirations of all local people are fully realised.

For more information on the Cripplegate Foundation and their work please visit their website at www.cripplegate.org/

Haggerston on Film

Quality Badge Awarded

We are delighted that we have once again been awarded a Quality Badge by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (lOtC).

The badge is a nationally recognised indicator of good quality educational provision, helping  reduce the red tape associated with learning outside the classroom and thereby making it easier for teachers and other education providers to incorporate learning outside of the classroom into the everyday curriculum.

For more information on The lOtC and the Quality Badge, please click here.