Studio Egret West and Heathfield Academy Reimagine Croydon’s Park Hill and Water Tower for a Changing Climate

How do you help a class of 9-and-10-year-olds tackle the complex challenges of climate adaptation? For architecture and design practice Studio Egret West, the answer was to put the masterplan into the children’s hands.

Based in the heart of London, Studio Egret West are architects, landscape architects and urban designers who pride themselves on creating sustainable places with a memorable identity.

The project began in the classroom, where matchsticks, plasticine and drawing techniques became tools to understand the architectural principles of shelter, scale, and elevation. In week two, the project site became their studio, with pupils surveying the water tower and recording the biodiversity in a nearby, verdant walled garden.

Over five weeks of intensive workshops, Studio Egret West’s designers Paola Denton and Martin Lee guided the children on a mission: to rethink Park Hill’s local landmark — a Victorian water tower — and adapt it for a future of climate extremes.

Weeks three and four were dedicated to master-planning. The children grappled with what sustainable design truly means, envisaging a future for the site that was not only resilient but also vibrant and community focused. Their ideas flourished, culminating in the final week when they presented their proposals with impressive confidence and clarity to a panel of experts.

Paola observed key outcomes for pupils: ”We saw a clear improvement in the children’s drawing skills and techniques as well as improved confidence. They were eager to include climate friendly solutions into their designs as a result of their new learning from our workshops. We also saw much enthusiasm from the children when they presented their ideas to the external CCAC panel.”

“There is a notable decline in university applications for landscape architecture. As climate consciousness becomes increasingly important and relevant to future generations, I can see the benefit of planting the seeds early and introducing landscape architecture to children as a proactive and impactful discipline“

Martin Lee from Studio Egret West

The sheer number of creative solutions persuaded Studio Egret West to combine elements from numerous propositions into a series of compelling computer-generated images. The children’s masterplan featured a new, flood-resilient water garden for both people and wildlife, shaded by solar canopies and fed by rainwater harvesting tanks. The design offered a powerful solution: community homes integrated with a natural landscape designed to work with the climate, not against it. Martin highlighted the project’s deeper impact, stating, “Although not yet on the national curriculum, children are made aware of climate change by their teachers’ use of CCAC’s basic climate science resources before we began our workshops. Guided by CCAC, we made it our mission to empower children to think like designers; turning climate anxiety into creativity and action.”

CCAC is thrilled with the outcome of this collaboration and extend huge thanks to the staff and pupils of Heathfield Academy, and to Paola, Martin, and the wider team at Studio Egret West.