Building Design
MODERN SCHOOL BUILDINGS - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY",
Felix Clay, ARCHITECT, London 1906
THE COTTAGE HOME SYSTEM. - In designing the cottages for a school on this system it should be remembered that the intention of this sort of school is to make the conditions approximate as closely as possible to those of the homes of the working classed, so that nothing more should be supplied than may be fairly be expected in the ordinary artisan's dwelling.
As regards the size of the bedrooms, the following dimensions will probably suffice. In the case of cottages which are not intended to take more than 15 children, bedrooms to take about 6 children should afford from 30 to 36 sq. ft. of floor area, the height being not less than 9 ft. In the case of rooms to take 10 or 12, the height must be increased to 10 ft., and the floor area should be at least 36 sq. ft. In the small cottages for, say, less than 15, it is no necessary to provide a separate room for the foster-mother, as the children are not in during the greater part of the day and go to bed early. One living-room will also serve for meals as well as a sitting-room. MR GORDON SMITH suggests it is an unnecessary expense to supply elaborately fitted bath-rooms and lavatories, since with the small numbers quite effective ablutions can be made with ordinary wash-bowls that would be found in a workman's cottage. Arrangements for baths for the children can usually be made by the provision of ordinary hip baths or washing-tubs.
The Hornchurch Schools belonging to the Shoreditch Union will give a good idea of the general scheme of this class of school. The buildings are arranged on two side of a road and form a street. Close to the entrances is placed the probationary ward with fourteen beds, and near to the official's residence. There are eleven cottages, each of which takes 30 children. Of these, six are for boys over seven, the remaining five for girls and boys under seven. The school buildings comprise the necessary class-roms&c., for education on one side of the road, and on the opposite are workshops for bootmaking, tailoring, carpentering, &c., in which boys are taught the different trades.
There is also a swimming-bath, and, a short distance off, a well-fitted infirmary. There are in addition to this, two infirmary cottages placed well out of the way, one of which is used for ringworm and skin diseases, the other for ophthalmic cases. Any case of serious infectious disease that occurred would not be treated at the school, but sent to one of the Fever Hospitals. The single bedroom in the girls' cottages is used for the girl who is going out to service next, so that she may learn the looking after and tidying up of the ordinary servants' bedroom. An expenditure of £50,000 was authorized by the Local Government Board for the erection of these schools, which are certified for 337 children.