A special trip to the Clare School in Norwich

We sometimes receive emails into our inbox here at LSI Architects regarding new projects. But we recently received a slightly different email enquiry to usual when Leo, a student at the Clare School in Norwich, emailed in to ask for our help to design a new and accessible gymnasium for members of the disabled community, as a part of his class project.

Leo is Deaf and went to great lengths to compose his email, after researching local architectural firms and we were absolutely delighted that he chose to email in to LSI Architects.

The Clare School is a Specialist ‘Physical and Sensory’ Complex Needs School for pupils from 3 to 19 years of age. The School looks to ‘celebrate success’ at every opportunity, aiming to enable all pupils to reach their individual potential. This is an ethos that very much aligns with our own, and appreciating Leo reaching out to us so much, we arranged a special visit to the school.

And so, Associate Director Louise Knights and Associate Chris Lappin attended the school last week and had the absolute pleasure of spending the morning with the students to talk about architecture; the process of design, what LSI designs, and how we communicate our ideas, modelling, 3D printing and sketching.

At the end of the session, we were absolutely delighted to be able to present to Leo with floorplans of his new gym.

Leo’s teacher, Karen Davison, commented: “They were so interested in looking at all of the designs and models. One student even decided that he would like to be an Architect now!”

Here is the floorplan for Leo’s Gym, prepared by Architectural Assistant Megan Petts.