Britain's What's On Event Guide
Kennington Primary 'Bubble' classroom
Heritage Open Day: Visit a 1970s architectural innovation designed for new educational ideas. The ‘bubble’ classroom at Kennington Primary School was the first fully structural plastic building in Britain, and is still in use today. The bubble was designed in the early 1970s by Lancashire County Council architects, who used early computer aided design (CAD) to produce the complex geometrical designs needed. It's in the form of a modified icosahedron – a 20-sided shape made up of triangles – and is made of self-supporting glassfibre-reinforced plastic (GRP) panels. It was a prototype for pre-fabricated mass-produced schools, but the oil crisis in 1973 made plastic buildings too costly. It remains a one-off, now Grade 2 listed.
The architectural innovation suited new ideas of ‘teaching in the round’ in primary education at the time. Former pupils and their memories of the bubble classroom are especially welcome.
The architectural innovation suited new ideas of ‘teaching in the round’ in primary education at the time. Former pupils and their memories of the bubble classroom are especially welcome.
Saturday 13 September
Kennington Primary School, Kennington Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire PR2 8ER
Sat 13 Sep:0900-1200; Free Entry.
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