Wood Work is the Building Centre's online lunch-time talks series featuring international designers and their wood inspired projects, supported by the Timber Trade Federation and Wood for Good.
The third project of the series is St. John’s Music Pavilion in Buckinghamshire. The project is presented by Clementine Blakemore of Clementine Blakemore Architecture.
About St. John’s Music Pavilion
St. John’s is a small state primary school, located in the Buckinghamshire village of Lacey Green. The project to design and build a new music pavilion for the school was initiated as Clementine’s final design thesis at the RCA in 2014, and continued as a long-term collaboration with the local community. Focusing on low energy consumption, natural light, renewable materials and community involvement, the project received a RIBA McAslan Bursary, and was shortlisted for the Wood Awards, AJ Small Projects Awards and RIBA Journal MacEwen Awards. The double-pitched timber structure, which was designed with Webb Yates Engineers, is formed of CNC-milled timber members assembled as an interlocking lattice. Phase One was prototyped and fabricated at Grymsdyke Farm, a research and fabrication facility in the village, and was self-built using timber donated by Hooke Park, a managed forest owned and run by the Architectural Association. Fundraising for the second phase began in partnership with the school’s Parents’ Association in 2017, enabling the structure to be enclosed as a much-needed classroom.
About Clementine Blakemore
Since founding her own practice in 2016, Clementine Blakemore has focused on producing buildings that are inventive, inclusive and have a positive impact on the wider community. The practice is currently working on the conversion of a series of derelict farm buildings in West Dorset into an educational farm, community space and accessible accommodation, due to complete in September this year. Previous clients include the Design Museum, the Dorset Wildlife Trust, and the UK Green Building Council.
Clem initially studied sculpture at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, under Richard Wentworth and then worked in film before training as an architect. After a year at the Rural Studio in Alabama, she gained her qualifications at the Architectural Association (RIBA Part 1) and the Royal College of Art (RIBA Part 2), graduating with a Distinction. With a strong belief in collaboration and the process of learning through making, she has led a number of design/build workshops and was a Visiting School Director for the Architectural Association between 2012 – 2017. Prior to starting her own practice, Clem worked for Duggan Morris Architects, David Chipperfield Architects.
In 2020 she was included in the Architects’ Journal prestigious 40 under 40 list, and the practice will also be featured in the forthcoming Architecture Foundation publication New Architects 4, 'a major publication surveying the best British architectural practices established in the past ten years'.
The Wood Work event series is generously supported by Wood For Good. It is part of the Conversations about Climate Change programme, in association with the Timber Trade Federation.
Missed Wood Work #01 with Ingrid Petit of Feilden Fowles? You can now watch the talk on Waterloo City Farm on our YouTube.
