“Joyful and inspiring” Royal Wharf Primary School wins a prestigious architecture award

Royal Wharf Primary School has been named as a winner of a 2022 RIBA London Award – one of the most prestigious awards in architecture – with judges calling the school “joyful and inspiring.”

The school was designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley and stands at the heart of Ballymore and Oxley’s Royal Wharf neighbourhood in the Royal Docks,  a brand new, 3,385-home neighbourhood completed in 2020.

Visiting the school, judges praised its “brightness and warmth”, noting that they experienced “unbounded delight and joy” as they wandered through the building. They also cited how engaged pupils were with the building.

Speaking of the award, Nicola Zech-Behrens, Project Director at Ballymore said: “Royal Wharf is an exemplary neighbourhood which has provided much-needed new homes for London, and a true community with amenities like this school at its heart.

“We partnered with skilled designers and architects here to raise the design bar here delivering a new neighbourhood that is inclusive, excites and inspires, and opens up the riverfront for everyone. This award is testament to that and demonstrates the important place of Royal Wharf School in this vibrant, dynamic and amenity-rich new neighbourhood.

"Being a mum with two children at primary school age, this has been a project close to my heart and working closely with the Head Teacher and Department for Education has given me some fantastic insight into everyday school life and operations."

The award is the latest accolade for Royal Wharf; features of the development have also won a Civic Trust Award and a New London Award, while the onsite construction team received the Seal of Excellence for Site Management accolade at the national 2018 NHBC (National House Building Council) Pride in The Job awards.