Location: Childrens Day Nursery, Shenstone Woodend, near Lichfield
Project Type: Replacement Childrens Nursery for Little Ripley Day Nursery
Size: 392m2
A commercial project with a difference – designed to inspire and engage its young audience.
Work is underway for our client Little Ripley Day Nursery on Birmingham Road, Shenstone Woodend near Lichfield. A replacement children’s nursery, packed with personality to appeal to little people. Having worked on previous projects for Little Ripley, including South Parade in Sutton Coldfield [https://www.bidesign-architecture.co.uk/portfolio-2/little-ripley-day-nursery-south-parade-sutton-coldfield/] our clients wanted to create design consistency across their nurseries.
The former 1950s building needed a complete remodel having previously been a police house and residential dwelling before a day nursery, so the proportions of the rooms and layout were not suitable for a modern children’s nursery or met the future growth needs of the business.
As this property is within a designated green belt area, we were not able to significantly increase the footprint of the property via extensions, however, the space on the modern replacement two-storey facility will be increased by 56% with additional first-floor accommodation; taking it from 251m2 to 392m2, with a 40% increase in built volume. Most importantly increasing the child occupancy from mid-forties to mid-seventies.
The design, with its red standing seam roof and bright feature windows, will no doubt capture the imagination of the children but is still in keeping with the mix of traditional and contemporary properties on the street.
Working alongside Space Build and Design, CT Planning, TCC, Axis Surveys & Nova Acoustics we were able to secure a successful outcome for our client exceeding what is typically acceptable within Lichfield’s Green Belt.