Council gives go-ahead for Nine Elms school site

Up to 20,000 new homes are being built across the Nine Elms opportunity area, supported by a package of new infrastructure including community, health and education facilities. This lease would enable the construction of a two-form school and a community space to open in September 2026 providing school places to support the size and scale of development in the area.

The sustainable and education-focused design of the new school was unanimously given the green light by Wandsworth Council’s planning committee in August 2021. The building includes a new community facility and will form a distinctive 'bookend' to the landscaped park running through the area which was previously occupied by a large Royal Mail depot and sorting offices.

Councillor Will Sweet, Wandsworth Council’s cabinet member for education and children’s services said: "As Nine Elms continues to develop, we have carefully planned for the practical needs of the growing community with provision of a new school alongside NHS surgeries and sport and play facilities. We’re looking forward to starting the clock on the council's delivery of a new sustainable school for Wandsworth which will help provide the best start in life for families across this local catchment area."

The landscaping around the school building is designed to seamlessly blend the development into the surrounding linear Nine Elms Park – a 4.5 hectare public park which stretches from Battersea Power Station up towards Vauxhall.

Plans for the 1.24-acre site, south west of Nine Elms Lane, have been developed by the council over four years using school design guidance, feedback from planning consultations and review by two independent design panels.

The new 4,309sqm school and standalone creche will provide a core facility for the growing local community in the immediate catchment area. The capacity is planned to accommodate 420 pupils.

The education-led building has been developed in accordance with Department for Education design guidance and standards, and in close collaboration with a stakeholder group of representatives from the education, construction and community departments of Wandsworth Council. The school design team has also worked closely with the freeholder Royal Mail Group and Camlins, who are the lead landscape architects for the linear Nine Elms Park.

Construction of the school is forecast to take approximately two years and will be funded through Nine Elms developer infrastructure contributions. The council has approved a £15m budget for the acquisition of land and associated costs for the provision of a new school.