Students complete first semester
at the Fashion Retail Academy
09 January 2007
The first students at the Fashion Retail Academy have just completed their opening semester, marking the success of this unique project.
The £4.9 million academy based in Gresse Street, London, is the first skills academy in the UK, aiming to introduce students to the practical and vocational skills needed to meet the challenges of the fast paced world of fashion retail. Procured through the Arcadia Group, Learning and Skills Council and other sponsors, the facility is designed to accommodate 400 fashion and retail students aged 16 to 18. These students will have access to state of the art technology at The Academy as well as the resources within Arcadia Group Ltd’s partner organisations to support their learning, with teaching being a collaboration between college and industry staff through work placements and industry master classes.
The design task faced by Nightingale Associates was to create over 45,000 feet of cutting edge teaching space that would inspire hundreds of individuals to become fashion stars of the future. Consequently the architects set out to establish a vibrant, inspirational learning environment, where a high level of sophisticated finishes reflected contemporary retail settings.
With the project brief stating the need for maximum impact in the entrance area, Nightingale Associates created a three storey atrium that would enable the Academy to showcase the work of its students, with mannequins, student exhibits and the ability to project images onto a screen within the atrium.
This stylish motif is carried through to the classrooms and teaching spaces, with contemporary finishes, exposed soffits, concealed smart boards and maximum glazing to flood the spaces with natural light, providing an environment perfectly suited to the study of fashion retail.
Indeed, with study as one of the key purposes of the building, Nightingale Associates sought to create an environment that would stimulate discussion between students. Through the use of display areas, multi purpose design studios, the learning resource centre and breakout spaces, the architects were able to develop the non directive learning environment that would promote interaction between the attendees of the academy. A further element of this was the inclusion of social spaces in the basement of the building, comprising a café, and external courtyard, student common room and an MTV room.
As well as designing spaces that push the idea of interaction between students to the fore, the academy also interacts with the public and the high street through a series of mock shop windows facing Gresse street. Emphasising the building’s role as a centre for developing excellence in fashion retail, these displays will be able to constantly evolve with the changing styles of the time.
Meanwhile, the academy’s lecture theatre has been designed to accommodate fashion shows, lectures, film screenings, seminars and exhibitions. Furthermore, the IT and audio visual infrastructure allows the academy to project performances from the lecture theatre to any of the teaching spaces, and to the entrance atrium.
Through this combination of contemporary design, versatility and promotion of discussion, interaction and learning, the Fashion Retail Academy and Nightingale Associates have set a benchmark to which other education facilities will aspire.
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