The competition winning school design in Canterbury is conceived as a ‘walled garden’ creating an ‘enclosure’ – a safe place – that secures and protects, offering a stimulating educational aura. The form of this enclosure contrasts strongly with a flexible arrangement of enclosed accommodation – a contrast of formal and informal, order and play that is reinforced in the use of materials, with a strong masonry wall contrasting with timber built accommodation. This generic design seeks to optimise the social spaces within the school, so that classrooms would open into expansive shared use areas, condensed around a learning resource area that offers accessible library and IT-suite to encourage children and parents to learn. Outdoor teaching spaces are seen as a priority to inter-relate inside and outside. The design has been produced in association with Prof. Sir Colin Stansfield Smith.