DRAPERS' ACADEMY: VISIT TO KEW GARDENS 13 OCTOBER

A view of the famous pagoda at Kew.  We have a great landscaping opportunity at Drapers' Academy, in part to revive a 190 year old landscaping scheme by Humphry Repton (1752-1818).  But this pagoda is probably just a little too ambitious for our budget.

A group of us working on Drapers' Academy, including representatives from Kier, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Cormac Fanning from the Academy, visited Kew Gardens yesterday to discuss how we are going to plant and operate the biome that will play a big part in stimulating the science syllabus as well as being an arresting part of the building's design.

The biome, a two storey glass box with a 1000 square foot footprint, will be built on the south side of the science block and be visible immediately on entering the Academy.  It will be in three segments.  The centre will contain a full size tree, on the eastern side there will be an enclosed arid, hot environment and on the west side, alongside the main corridor, we had originally intended to create a wet tropical environment but after discussion with Kew yesterday we will probably creater a slightly cooler space but one that will grow temperate plants that do would not survive outside in England.  We are creating probably the largest biome at any school in Britain (but I recognise that such records can be easily broken) and a facility that will have a huge ranges of uses.

Discussions with the Kew team, who were really helpful and enthusiastic, were very fruitful, no pun intended, and we came away with lots of ideas and a much clearer idea of the timing and nature of of the various decision points in during the Academy building programme.

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The Kew Gardens team have a great knowledge of the sort of plants that appeal to children and carnivorous plants are right at the top of the list.  This is a Pitcher Plan. It is designed so that  insects fall into the plant into a broth of very powerful enzymes and are digested.  Interesting the little lid on top is not not designed to trap the insect but rather to stop rain entering inside the stem and diluting the strength of the liquids inside. Also the Kew Gardens team told us that after some school visits they have to remove a variety of objects that have been fed to the Venus Fly Traps, rubbers, rulers and sweet wrappers are some of the more commonly found untasty objects. 

DRAPERS' ACADEMY: WE GET THROUGH!

The Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios architect's Model of the Academy looking from the east.  In the foreground is the all-weather pitch.  The white block is the proposed new building for Pyrgo Priory Primary School.  The Drapers' Academy buildings are to the right.  The design is the traditional quadrangle with a design that allows the maximum number of classroms to look out across the exceptional green-belt site.
(Thanks to Liveryman Sophie Williams Thomas for this photgraph)

I was contacted this morning by our project lead in the Department of Education telling us we were in that small group of academies, 44 in total, that have been given the go ahead to re-start our new-build programme with our original grant. I think she was as pleased as I was with the news.

I was told to wait the formal announcement from Michael Gove and this appeared in a form of a letter around 5.00pm this evening.

This is a huge relief. I was not looking forward to the dispriting work we would have had to do had we been turned down or asked to re-negotiate. Now we can devote our energies entirely to getting things done.

We have, of course, lost a month while the Department has considered our case and moving work rapidly up to speed again in the middle of August is going to take some doing.

However everyone involved is very willing. It is a real boost that our ambition to transform education on Harold Hill can now go ahead as planned. Also as we have all worked together to make the case to keep our project going I think we can all take credit for this success.

Now on to signing the contract for the new-build as soon as possible and opening in September in the old buildings as a temporary home while the new academy is built.

DRAPERS' ACADEMY: RATCHETING UP THE TENSION

Anyone eagerly waiting for news as to whether Drapers' Academy new-build (see a lot of posts below) gets the go ahead will, I regret, have to wait a bit longer.

No news today and we have now been told of the fourth postponement of an announcement until 'late on Friday.'

The internet is awash with rumours about Academies that have unofficially been given the go ahead and ones that have been ditched. I treat all such stories with considerable caution. Waiting for any announcement from Michael Gove has brought work to a halt so there is plenty of time for project teams across the country to hatch conspiracy theories of increasing complexity.

On the more prosaic side Kier who are the preferred bidders, with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios as architects, have continued to work 'at risk.' On Monday we had the last meeting to got our case ready for final planning consent by the Havering planners later this month. We also completed the Final Business Case that, if all were going according to plan, would be the last stage in releasing funds and getting the contract signed to start building.

I am most grateful to Kier and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.  Despite the uncertanty and the prospect that if the project does not go ahead they will have to write off around a million pounds, they remain staunchly committed. Such commitment is good for our morale and minimises delay if the project finally gets the go ahead.

I really hope I shall be able to say something more positive about the Academy in my next post.