Sion Manning Roman Catholic Girls’ School, North Kensington, London

• Learning
• 2014

This National Lottery-funded dance studio and fitness suite is fully integrated into the centre of the visual arts college with school and independent community access. The double-height dance studio volume is expressed as a lightweight clerestory, floating above a solid, dark brown masonry base that includes entrance, a fitness suite and changing.

Insulated glazing above the dance studio gives different light and solar transmission on each side of the high room. Natural ventilation is through wind-catchers mounted on the roof. Culminating in a large window overlooking the playing fields, the long exercise room is shaped around spaces for exercise machine and workout. Natural light reaches the length of the room through a slender skylight.