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TWO SAINTS COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL

ALTERNATIVE NAME:

GLOBE ACADEMY, GEOFFREY CHAUCER TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE, GEOFFREY CHAUCER SCHOOL

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DESCRIPTION

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A school initially known as Two Saints Comprehensive School but later called Geoffrey Chaucer School, now the Globe Academy. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and built in 1958-60 for 1,260 girls near the Elephant and Castle. The site was redeveloped in 2007 and only the assembly hall from the original school was retained and restored.

Two Saints Comprehensive School was constructed of concrete, glass and brick comprising two four-storey teaching blocks, linked by a covered way to a central complex. This complex included an assembly hall with house rooms to the corners and a cloistered quadrangle with a kitchen, administrative rooms and library.

The surviving assembly hall is pentagonal in plan and roofed by five hyperbolic paraboloids separated by roof lights. The five house or year rooms at the corners are faced in glazing separated by obscured panels. The hyperbolic paraboloids are amongst the earliest in England to be made of concrete. They are formed of Gunite (sprayed concrete) on a steel formwork across which wires are threaded. Insulation was laid on top and the concrete sprayed on from below. The lowest points of the roof are supported on steel columns, which are tied back within the upper floor structure.

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A school initially known as Two Saints Comprehensive School but later called Geoffrey Chaucer School, now the Globe Academy. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and built in 1958-60 for 1,260 girls near the Elephant and Castle. It was Grade II listed in 1993. The site was redeveloped in 2007 and only the assembly hall from the original school was retained and restored.

Two Saints Comprehensive School was constructed of concrete, glass and brick comprising two four-storey teaching blocks, linked by a covered way to a central complex. This complex included an assembly hall with house rooms to the corners and a cloistered quadrangle with a kitchen, administrative rooms and library.

The surviving assembly hall is pentagonal in plan and roofed by five hyperbolic paraboloids separated by roof lights. The five house or year rooms at the corners are faced in glazing separated by obscured panels. The hyperbolic paraboloids are amongst the earliest in England to be made of concrete. They are formed of Gunite (sprayed concrete) on a steel formwork across which wires are threaded. Insulation was laid on top and the concrete sprayed on from below. The lowest points of the roof are supported on steel columns, which are tied back within the upper floor structure. [1-4]

At the time of writing (2011) access to the listed building description is through the National Heritage List for England (Listed Building Number 1385594). [1]

SOURCE TEXT

(1) World Wide Web page

English Heritage. 2011. The National Heritage List for England http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1385594 [04-OCT-2011]

(2) Harwood, Elain 2011 Chamberlin, Powell and Bon

Page(s)47-53, 135

(3) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

1:1250, 2010

(4) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

SOUTHWARK, 30-MAR-1993

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