Eleanor Smith School is an all through special educational needs school based in East Ham within the London Borough of Newham. It caters for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) and the project encompasses an extension and improvement of the existing primary school in Plaistow with a brand new secondary school on a brownfield site in East Ham. The new building is constructed in cross laminated timber (CLT), providing generous, flexible classrooms and specialist teaching resource areas, calming spaces and break-out spaces to the extensive external landscape.
‘Rivington Street Studio worked closely with the school to understand the specialised context, in order to ensure the building works for all of those who use it. The thoughtful planning includes the use of ‘zen’ spaces that open into an internal garden. This is beneficial for pupils when they become dysregulated, and for those who need a higher-level support; the internal garden allows a contained space for the pupils to move in’
Clinton Pascoe, Head Teacher Eko Pathways SEMH School, Newham
