AIBU to think this victorian school building shouldn't be demolished.....

[tangogal]

....just because it is not "energy efficient"?

Please see this petition link with a view to signing:
Thanks in advance!

you.38degrees.org.uk/p/Marlborough

In the Scottish primary schools rebuilding programme, similar buildings are being demolished. It's a disgrace.

Not energy efficient is a pretty good reason though. Part of our school is Victorian and it's bloody freezing. Children age 3 to 6 are working in their coats and gloves at times. It's awful for them.

What is the argument for keeping it? I am on favour of replacing old buildings wiyh new ones.

Once these beautiful buildings are demolished, they are gone forever. it is so sad.

Knocking them down and then rebuilding isn't exactly energy efficient either, not after taking into account use of resources and everything else. It is a shame, these buildings could be improved and modernized without the need for demolition, if its a government plan then the contracts for this will without a doubt go to their friends, kerrching.

I've signed. It ain't broke so don't knock it down. Pointless. Whatever's built in its place will be far worse quality...they knew how to build stuff in those days.

Just google Dartington School if you want to see the problems with an Eco-friendly school

But they didn't know how to 'build stuff' in line with modern requirements, Pispcina - in particular those relating to fire safety and disabled access.

The cost of redesigning non-domestic buildings to those modern standards is often so prohibitive that nothing can be done to save them where the occupants hope to gain planning permission or central or local government funding. (Major upgrading will often require associated major works with regard to access and fire safety as above.)

Often enough, therefore, the buildings are demolished.

John Lewis are behind it as the interim school will be their old warehouses. And there will be retail space, offices and luxury apartments included in the new scheme.

www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/local-news/victorian-school-demolished-after-john-6333737

Thanks to those MNers who signed!!

But it is broke Pispcina, it's not fit for purpose.

We've lost one old school here recently, but another has been converted to flats. No-one would choose to work or go to school in one of those old buildings though, even if they do look pretty from the outside.

The chair of school governors is quoted as saying:

'A few years back we did actually go through a process of investigating how the existing school could have been extended and modernised and we found that it could have been done.'

Sooo...I think that means a plan to modernise it was feasible. Seems the only actual improvement will be a bit more space.

I think there are lots of beautiful Victorian building which need to be saved. This isn't one of them. I think it's an ugly beast of a building.

'could' covers potentially a lot of ground, Pispcina. Quite often it's entirely possible but only at vast expense which nobody is prepared to fund in light of the perceived benefits and other calls on funding.

It usually comes down to money in the end.

I was 'fortunate' enough to attend a school i an old Victorian building. It was bloody awful - cold, couldn't see out of the windows, large rooms subdivided with wooden partitions to make classrooms, no proper dining/PE/science facilities, inadequate storage,tiny playground, prehistoric outdoor toilets - I could go on and on. Awful.

Eventually they rehomed the school and the building is now a public library. Much better.

So, anyway, no I wouldn't wish it on children.

I know the school well. The playground is a good size and the building isn't cold inside. In fact it was too warm recently before they turned off the central heating. It has a lovely assembly hall. The classrooms and library are nice. Ditto the canteen and PE area.
It even used to be an adult education centre with a ceramics studio.
They want to expand it to take double entry at all form levels. Also there is the issue of the retail, offices, and luxury apartments...

I take all points on board. I don't care what the building ends up as - there are some uses which really suit the format, as it were - so if a new school has to be built as well, that's Ok with me.

Looking at the photos of it I think it would make a beautiful tenement block. Far nicer than the concrete ones all over London.

I realise it's controversial but we live in the UK. You can't swing a cat without hitting something old and historical!

Buildings aren't good just because they're old. That one looks pretty ugly.

With old victorian school buildings, there is also the problem of access.

The junior school in our town is unsuitable for ds because it has stairs, and they are unable to put lifts in. Ironically it is also the only junior with a special needs resource base in the whole area. The nearest accessible school is 30 miles away.

If a school building isn't suitable for all it's pupils it seems like fairly rubbish building for a school!

Sadly round here (world heritage city, apparently) you can't swing a cat without hitting some God awful new build that looks condemned after 5 years, due to poor quality workmanship.

All stuck in between the Norman castles and cathedrals.

They should replace something really horrible with lovely new buildings - not something that's already lovely. Our horrible new build housing estate was built on the site of a tannery. And they converted/used the old Victorian drying sheds and so on, as part of it. The majority of it is shit entry level housing though that leaks.

People have been misled because the planning information deliberately highlights the school's move to the old John Lewis clearings warehouse. Most don't realise that is just the interim school...

Please see this link, no mention of tearing down the victorian building!

www.rbkc.gov.uk/pressrelease/pressreleasepage.aspx?id=4599

Nothing to do with efficiency - they're planning to build shops and offices there and stick the school above these and put their playground on the roof. Not sure I'd be happy with the fire risk for my DS. This is the 'townscape' drawing that was lodged with the application.

It sounds much like an extended PFI Pitch and Ditch.

Our primary school is Victorian. The year 1&2 classroom is the original Victorian nursery room. It isn't big enough to take all the children so some have to sit in part of the corridor to have their lessons. The same group has been out there for the entire year. They do some stuff with the rest of their class and some stuff with the foundation class whose corridor it is. It's not ideal but we're completely restricted by the classroom size of the Victorian school.

In this case, the classrooms are ample. There is a max of 30 per class. It is a very large building and I was told that it could have been converted. It is a matter between the council, developers and John Lewis.
Why should we unnecessarily lose more of our heritage?
There are too many rich developers getting richer out there.
If it was a private school would they have approved the demolition?