Local Authority

Camden

Pupils on roll

1296

Area

Kitchen/servery: 105m ²
Dining:260m ²

Architects

SHH

Design

The project began life as a concept design exercise undertaken at the invitation of the joinedupdesignforschools28 initiative, run by the Sorrell Foundation, which explores how good design can improve school life by listening to pupils. Its aim is to inspire creativity in young people and improve quality of life through good design. Architects SHH worked closely on the design with a client group of pupils aged 14-16. ‘The Hub’ then became a reality, thanks to joint funding from the DCSF (now DfE), Camden LA and the school.

The final design is multi-functional, catering for different user groups. Certain areas needed to process dining at speed, others had to be comfortable and relaxing.There are zoned areas for different types of eating: snacking, salads and traditional dining, as well as an IT zone with built-in easy-clean keyboards. Outdoor overspill areas include a series of metal ‘pods’, allowing for all-weather use, and a café terrace under a retractable canopy.

The pupils have a sense of ownership of their canteen not least because, as the end users, a client team of pupils had input into the process. It is not possible to quantify precisely the effect of the refurbishment on school meal uptake (since the refurbishment coincided with a change to the food provider and the offer), but the school is now serving between 400 and 500 meals a day, including sandwiches and salads.

School food policy

From Year 10 upwards, the pupils are allowed to leave the school at lunchtime. There are many options for buying lunch inexpensively locally, not all of which are necessarily poor options. The school would prefer that there was sufficient space for all pupils to dine on site. It was an important objective of the refurbishment project to attract more pupils to take up school meals, but the school also wanted to provide an inviting environment for those choosing to bring in food from outside. Hence the ‘retail’ feel of the project.

Feedback

Pupils

• Pupils are enthusiastic about the look and feel of The Hub.
• They like having a choice of different places to eat.
• The outside pods are particularly popular and used whenever possible.

Head of Catering

• The spaces are well-planned and popular with the pupils.
• The facilities are designed for easy cleaning and maintenance.
• Bins and tray/crockery/cutlery return positions are neatly integrated into the walls.
• Recessed, flush panel radiators with concealed pipework are easy to clean.
• The queuing system is an improvement on the former arrangement but would work even better with a dedicated queuing stream for each main servery point.
• Although the pendant light fittings can be knocked and the bulbs need replacing frequently.

Staff

• The project has generally been a great success and transformed a previously gloomy and unattractive indoor and outdoor area.
• The high level of design reflects the arts ethos of the school and the successful collaboration between pupils and the design team.
• The internet area has not yet been workable in practice, since the space is difficult to manage (both technically and in terms of mealtime supervision).

Guidance and Conclusions: What this case study does well?

• There was successful engagement with the client, and a good consultation process
• The dining area has an exciting identity
• Dividing the sandwich and hot food offers shortens queuing time
• Imaginative and interesting colours and finishes have been used
• Interesting furniture was chosen to reflect different zones
• There was good outside space for dining, which is popular with pupils
• It is an easily maintained and hygienic environment, with intelligent stacking of used crockery and cutlery
• Different zones give different variety and appeal to different tastes and moods
• Interesting lighting gives a different feel to each zone