Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 18
A NEW CLASSROOM
FOR OLD NEWTON
INSPIRATION
↑
The new
A kit-of-parts timber system was the perfect way to
create a sustainable new classroom building – quickly
and easily assembled to 昀椀t into the primary school's
term dates...
classroom is
well integrated
with the school's
playground; all
photographs ©
Matthew Walder;
courtesy of
riginally built in 1859,
Old Newton Primary
School sits in a rural
setting just north
of Stowmarket in the village
of Old Newton, Su昀昀olk. The
school is made of a collection
of buildings with a capacity for
105 pupils. Looking to expand, the
school secured funding to create
a new self-contained classroom
and library in an underused area
overlooking the playground in 2023.
“My children go to the school,
and we live pretty much next
door to it,” explains Al Scott,
Founder of IF_DO architects.
“As a parent governor there, I
knew the school was seeking
to expand. An additional,
standalone classroom had been
O
decided upon, to free
up space internally, and
the location had been
determined.”
The school had already
approached a turnkey
classroom delivery
specialist, received a
proposed design for a
prefabricated volumetric
solution and con昀椀rmed
permitted development
for it. There was a limited
budget, and materials
prices were rapidly
rising at the time, but Al
believed IF_DO could
design something better
within those constraints.
Central to IF_DO’s
vision for a better value
DESIGNING TIMBER
18
IF_DO
NOV/DEC 2025
building, was to incorporate
昀氀exible spaces such as
the covered seating area
overlooking the playground,
and improved visual
connectivity to the green
spaces surrounding the
classroom.
Moreover, the new classroom
would need to be delivered
rapidly, with disruptive
operations occurring only
during school holidays, so
when in 2024 the school
governors approached
IF_DO to propose an o昀昀site manufactured solution,
it seemed a perfect 昀椀t for
Natural Building Systems
– with all the bene昀椀ts of
regenerative, natural materials,
excellent indoor air quality,
being free from VOCs and
other contaminants – adding
signi昀椀cant further value for the
school on a limited budget.
