We're helping schools create new outdoor spaces for their pupils

Our children’s health and wellbeing and the quality of the outdoor spaces we create for them has never been more important.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown how vital it is that students have safe spaces outside during their busy academic day.

We are working with a growing number of schools, sixth form colleges and universities across the country to help them to create rich, vibrant and immersive spaces outside.

It could be a colourful new playground for a primary school, a nature garden or a cool covered outdoor space for students to safely hangout.

These are spaces which work whatever the weather because Covid-19 is not going away anytime soon.

Our work is defined by the intervention of nature and colour into the public realm to connect students with the landscape.

Over the last few months we have been working with Cardinal Newman College, a successful Catholic Sixth Form College in the heart of Preston with a small and distinctive campus.

In response to Covid-19, they wanted to create a new outdoor covered social space for their students with benches and planting which could crucially be used in all weather.

With the additional pressure on circulation space due to the pandemic, the external spaces needed to be more efficiently designed to accommodate small and medium groups of students throughout the year.

We worked on the project with Flinders Chase, a civil engineering company based in Liverpool, to design a fantastic, but technically very complex, terrace improvement scheme.

With underground services plus the roots of protected lime trees to avoid, a specialist screw pile foundation solution to avoid pouring metres of concrete - and 4,000 students to navigate - it has been a really interesting project to work on.

It can rain quite a lot in Preston, so the design includes reconstituted decking under a permanent canopy structure with steel seats.

The scheme was brought together within four months from design concept to completion.

·  To find out more about our work in the Education sector please get in touch on 01244 319019 or visit our website http://www.landstudio-uk.com/education-community