Two projects short-listed for CPRE Hampshire Awards

We’re pleased to announce that Ruth Butler Architects have been nominated in two categories in the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) 2017 Awards.

Classroom in the Sky nominated

The Outdoor Learning Project at St John’s Primary School, Rowlands Castle, has been shortlisted in the Young Person’s category.

The nomination follows the completion of a five-year project between the school and Ruth Butler Architects that transformed the grounds into a place suitable for forest school activities with the aim of bringing the classroom into the great outdoors.

The centrepiece of the £36,000 project was a ‘classroom in the sky’ treehouse with two pods capable of accommodating 15 pupils.

A woodland trail, peace garden, climbing wall and outdoor musical instruments were also created during the last five years.

“The school had a lot of ground that wasn’t being accessed,” said Ruth Butler. “One of the first things we did was the woodland trail because that opened it up.

“All the things we’ve done connect into the national forest schools curriculum by taking teaching out of the classroom and into outdoor spaces.

“This was a project that focused entirely on the outdoors and one of the nice things about it was getting the chance to redefine their outdoor spaces.”

Forest Schools teacher, Jayne May, was instrument in pushing the project forward while the majority of the cash was raised through school events and a fundraising partnership.

Ruth Butler Architects acted as designer (including landscape design), project manager and facilitator and provided community consultation for the five year long project.

Hampshire Passivhaus nominated for Sustainable Building Award

To add to our success, we have also been nominated in the CPRE Hampshire Awards in the Sustainable Building category for our Hampshire Passivhaus project.

The house, designed by Ruth Butler Architects, was completed in May 2015 and Passivhaus certified in September 2015.  The project is an L-shaped single-family house, enclosing a sunny courtyard garden.  Built on a brown field site, in an urban part of the town, the design is a sensitive response to the opportunities and constraints of the site.  You can read more about it here.

The awards will be handed out by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire on September 19.   Now in their 11^th year, the county branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England run the awards to recognise and celebrate those working for a beautiful and thriving Hampshire countryside for everyone to value and enjoy.

For more information on these projects, please contact Ruth Butler Architects.

Coverage in the local press