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Campaigners are racing to find a new home for the futuristic classroom pod before its demolition at the end of the school term
The Ingenium classroom pod at Grey Court School, Richmond-upon-Thames, designed by Future Systems in 2004, is facing demolition as the school expands to accommodate increasing pupil numbers. A new home for the pod is being urgently sought, with relocation required by the end of the school term.
Future Systems, renowned for their RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground, drew inspiration from that award-winning structure for the Ingenium pod. The classroom shares the same all-white exterior, porthole skylights, and panoramic glazed frontage – a smaller version of the design famously dubbed ‘Cherie Blair’s mouth’ at Lord’s.
The school, which has grown from 500 to 1,600 pupils, now requires space for a larger classroom block, leaving the 10m x 16m pod surplus to requirements. The Twentieth Century Society is seeking any parties interested in relocating the structure. The school has set a deadline of Friday 20th December for the pod’s removal.
The pod was part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) ‘World Classrooms of the Future’ programme, funded during the New Labour government. The initiative aimed to create better environments for teaching and learning by investing in innovative new facilities, rather than solely modernising older school buildings. The DfE at the time stressed the importance of designing adaptable school buildings.
Constructed from modular glass reinforced plastic components, the 100sqm freestanding classroom was designed to be dismantled and relocated. It features built-in seating, digital whiteboards, and an open plan space for up to 30 people. The use of suspended circular acoustic discs, coupled with high-level natural ventilation openings, helped ensure an appropriate acoustic environment. The pod is also equipped with a self-contained toilet, cloakroom, and services area. Decals of drawings by the schoolchildren themselves decorate the rear of the exterior shell.
Future Systems, founded by Jan Kaplický and Amanda Levete in 1979, was known for its highly original and curvaceous buildings, often associated with the ‘blobitecture’ movement. Their work was made possible by advances in computer-aided design. In addition to the Lord’s Media Centre, the practice is perhaps best known for the Selfridges store in Birmingham’s Bullring, completed in 2003. Future Systems dissolved in 2009 following Kaplický’s death, with Levete founding the practice AL_A.
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