Swanlea was the first new school built in London for 10 years and the architect, Ron Morgan of Percy Thomas Partnership, has achieved an original, exciting design for the 21st century which helps to generate a stimulating environment. It was built in 1993 and officially opened in February 1994 by Sir Ron Dearing, who was instrumental in setting up the National Curriculum. The school is now in the process of having further improvements made to the building, including an extension. You can find out more about the progress of the building work by clicking on this LINK.

The dramatic curved glass sweep of the entrance 'street', which we call 'The Mall', greets you on Brady Street and draws you into the heart of the building. An avenue of curved, tapered columns, bowing like trees in the wind, restrained by clusters of diagonal struts, supports the glazing.

The building has featured several times in architects journals, which always prompts an avalanche of requests from architects around the world to view it. Film companies regularly shortlist various rooms for photo shoots for TV productions and commercials. Maxwell Hutchinson of TV architecture fame featured it in a film comparing his old public school with an ultra-modern design.

The Mall incorporates steel prisms which are designed to reflect natural heat from the sun into the building during the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky. During the summer, they reflect the sun's rays away from the building to stop it becoming a 'greenhouse'.

The double-glazed Sports Hall and Gymnasium incorporate an inner skin of reflective gauze to ensure that teaching can take place without the glare of the sun. A group of architects came to the school to see this feature alone. The Sports hall is near international standard and consists of four badminton or basketball courts. An outstanding feature is the available height and light. There is a spectator gallery and electrically operated scoreboard. The gymnasium is well equipped and there is also a multi-gym with a wide range of exercise equipment. Changing and showering facilities are nearby.

The extension to the Restaurant built in 1996 blends very well with the original design. In 2001, the Tower Hamlets City Learning Centre was built on the south of the site. It is now the base for the Swanlea Campus of the Cambridge Heath Sixth From, and offers state of the art information technology facilities to our students. The outside courts offer facilities for netball, basketball or tennis.

The superb facilities and teaching expertise make this a first choice for many parents of 11 year old children each year. We are regularly oversubscribed.

Banqueting and Conference Facilities

Swanlea School offers businesses and other organisations conference and training facilities in a modern, attractive setting. The school library offers an ideal venue for large committee meetings involving up to fifty people.

The restaurant is available for hire for buffet or 'sit-down' meals and is regularly booked for wedding receptions. The capacity for one sitting is 350 people, but the attractive wide area adjoining, known as "The Mall" allows diners to wander and sit on the fixed benches provided, increasing buffet capacity to approximately 500 if required. In the summer months it is possible to walk out in the adjoining school garden, our little oasis near the middle of urban sprawl.