St Peter’s Eaton Square is a one form entry primary school, close to Victoria Station in central London. A diocese school, with a warm and friendly learning environment, it has a committed group of parents who approached ZCD Architects to help work with them to provide a decent playground space for the pupils.
Constrained on all sides, the current playground is so small, with less than 1m2 per child, that playtimes are staggered, but still overly cramped for all children. Outside the school the streets are heavy with traffic and tourists, being close to a major transport link, Buckingham Palace and other major attractions. We worked with the pupils and found out that they have little opportunity and space to play at school and on the way home in their local area.


Our proposals more than double the size of their playground and also create a new pedestrianised forecourt and streetscape in front of the school, which families can benefit from at drop off and pick up time, and nearby cafes and shops can use for spill out seating. We worked with the adjacent landowner, Grosvenor Estates, to make sure that servicing and access could be maintained on the street.
Parents leveraged the local CIL fund and other pots, which supported both our design work, and allowed us to carry out a deep level of engagement with the pupils and their community. This is a truly grassroots/bottom-up project which demonstrates how important it is to look at children’s experiences ‘in the round’, both inside and outside their school and to develop proposals that place them at the heart of their community.

