Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, London SW1W

IOTA delivered a range of landscape product solutions for the courtyard garden redevelopment of the Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, London.

The Scope of Works comprised:

• 1nr. Curved timber seating edge to roof garden
• 1nr. Waved timber seating edge to roof garden
• 3nr. Straight powder coated steel and timber benches, of varying lengths
• 5nr. Solid timber stools
• 3nr. Powder coated steel planters, movable via integrated castors

The client’s quality expectation, the specification level, plus the design complexity – all were unusually high. All metal and timber works were conducted in-house by IOTA, and the Waved timber seating, in particular, required very precise CAD modelling and machining. Cumaru was the specified timber, but the budget was insufficient; so to reduce cost, Oak was used as the timber, which was stained to match a Cumaru sample supplied. 2 coats of stain, followed by 2 coats of UV-resistant lacquer, were applied, to guarantee a minimum 10-year colour-fast life for the timber, before it will need to be stripped and retreated.

IOTA was commissioned by Kind & Co [Builders] Ltd, on the basis of Design, Manufacture, Supply, and Installation. The installation was complex, requiring a significant amount of on-site assembly and modification to ensure effective integration of the Curved and Waved timber seating with preceding works.

Francis Holland School is the name of two separate independent day schools for girls in central London, England, governed by the Francis Holland (Church of England) Schools Trust. The schools are located at Clarence Gate (near Regent's Park NW1) and at Graham Terrace (near Sloane Square SW1). The schools were founded in the 1870s by Canon Francis James Holland for the education of girls in London. At Francis Holland Sloane Square there are over 500 pupils on roll, 160 of whom are in the Junior School aged between 4 and 11 years, and 80 sixth-formers.