Nursery for the Alliance and Leicester HQ, Hinkley, Leicestershire

The Alliance and Leicester acquired the former Carlton Hayes hospital site for its headquarters. The building society wanted an independent operator to run a crèche/nursery for its staff and visitors. The security considerations of the client meant that the building had to be outside of the compound fence, this left only one contentious site.

The site provided was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Open Areas of Importance and Greenbelt. The original proposal (by others) met with resistance from the planners.

My approved design for 100 children allowed total flexibility for class sizes in 2-3 year olds between 12 and 56 pupils (with the balance made up of 3-5 year olds) with a minimum 95% staff use efficiency and 92% room use efficiency. All achieved by mathematically calculated varying room sizes rather than moveable walls. In other words, very little wasted space or staff time despite the commercial advantage of intake flexibility.

Click on the images below to see enlarged versions...