NEWS: An innovative 1960s modernist primary school in Leicestershire, centered on a striking dodecagon timber assembly hall, has just been listed at Grade II following support from C20 Society.

Glenmere Community Primary School in Wigston was built between 1963 and 1964, to designs by the architects Farmer and Dark for the Leicestershire Education Committee. Leicestershire was a pioneer in the design of educational buildings as a result of the renowned and progressive Leicestershire Plan.

My old school, St Peter & St Paul’s in Syston, was almost identical in design so I guess it must have been a part of this 1960s Leicestershire plan thing.

I took it for granted as a kid- it was just school- but now I’m a bit of a mid-century architecture nerd the design blows me away. It’s open yet cozy and with a real emphasis on bringing in the daylight and breaking down the barrier between inside and outside. Even as a kid the place felt somehow organic.

And the ceiling of that hall? It wouldn’t be out of place on a cutting edge California residence by John Lautner or Rudolph Schindler. I’d love to go back and have a look again but unfortunately it’s infested with children.