Camphill School

A shortlisted design proposal for a new residential teaching building at Camphill School in Aberdeen, an independent charity offering education, care and therapy services for children and young people with additional support needs.

Date

2018

Client

Camphill School, Aberdeen

Value

£10m

Our design approach was shaped by both the landscape of Camphill and the unique teaching culture which has been developed there over the past 60 years.

Our proposals seek to embed themselves into the landscaped surroundings of the school campus creating harmonious and supportive living environments for the residents.

The driver for our scheme was the desire to create a little village in the woods, breaking down the scale of the building into more individual and personal elements each with their own character but internally linked to form one integrated facility. Semi-enclosed walled garden spaces surround the building tempering the relationship between the open landscapes of the campus and the snug internal spaces of the school.

Some small huts containing potting sheds and studio spaces sit independently within these garden spaces, offering places of calm retreat, away from the main building.

The final location for the building within the site had not been determined, with this in mind we developed a proposal which allowed for adaption of the model to suit it’s immediate context. This would allow for the creation of a nuanced and carefully considered, sustainable and cost effective home for residents and staff alike.

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