Change of use, sensitive adaptation, extension and deep retrofit of a former nursing home in Surrey offers young people with learning difficulties a nature-rich alternative to mainstream education.
Drawing on research from the Sensory Trust, the project for award-winning SEN providers The Aurora Group follows best-practice education design principles to create a homely SEN school that blends old with new in a beautiful, mature landscape in the Green Belt.
Originally constructed in c.1908 the Arts & Crafts stately home was used as a Red Cross convalescent hospital from during the First World War, before reverting to a dwelling house in the 1920s. In the 1980s Chaldon Rise was converted to a care home that was later extended in numerous ways before closing its doors in 2017. The site had been vacant for a further 6 years before works commenced on constructing the school and was sufficiently dilapidated to inspire local urban explorers to post YouTube videos of the place.
In reconfiguring the site, e-gg’s strategic approach had to deliver a high-quality external environment that balances the needs of all-weather play, vehicle movements associated with the particular requirements of the cohort, clarity of circulation and well-proportioned classroom spaces, Tree Protection Orders and the challenges of working around a mature and verdant environment of trees, foliage and hedging in the Green Belt.
The resultant site layout reorganised the landscape to create a generous arrival, introducing a through-road and opening up the forecourt to reveal the splendour of the original house. Low-quality and superfluous building additions have been stripped off, external fabric has been upgraded and an elegant brick extension introduced that hosts a new commercial kitchen. With matching roof pitch and external finishes, the modern extension seamlessly integrates with the original house. Elsewhere, the better-quality existing building stock has been retained, thermally upgraded and dressed with new Thermowood weatherboard cladding.
To ensure the School can offer an appropriate curriculum for all, further specialist classrooms are provided in a pair of timber Net-Zero outbuildings: crisp single-storey volumes clad in Thermowood and topped with thriving green roof coverings. These classrooms are connected to the main building via a timber colonnaded walkway that runs along the rear, offering a transitional space between school and gardens. External play equipment has been selected to support exercise and regulation as well as learning.
Internally, spaces are crafted to support the varied needs and aspirations of each individual who attends the school, with provision available for everything from occupational therapy to A-level Science. Places at the school are funded by Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Personalised education, care and support plans are developed in partnership with each child, young person and young adult, at Chaldon School these are delivered in a learning environment that feels comfortable, homely and in no way institutional.
Aurora Chaldon School was delivered by contractors NCL and continues a successful ongoing collaboration between e-gg, The Aurora Group and Archway Building Consultancy, improving the lives of hundreds of people across the country by creating SEN learning environments in otherwise under-loved spaces. All photos by French&Tye, additional imagery from e-gg
