Please note that our final date for delivery (schools and libraries) this year will be Thursday 19 December. You can continue to place your orders online throughout the festive period, and delivery will recommence from Monday 6 January 2025. We wish all of our customers a restful Christmas break and a very happy new year.
The Streetly Academy
October 28th 2024
Staff at The Streetly Academy in Sutton Coldfield were looking to create a brand-new library – an engaging, inviting space that would provide a focal point in their campaign to develop a love of reading amongst their students. Our team were only too happy to help.
The challenge
The area started out as two separate spaces – a classroom and a library area – so due to noise disruption unfortunately the library wasn't being used to its full potential. There was work to be done to create the single, larger space that they were hoping for: removing an internal partition and glass wall, repainting, and installing a new carpet. With this complete, we set about creating a modern, functional design that would entice Streetly Academy students to read for pleasure.
Modern colour palette
To engage students, Senior Interior Designer Helena deliberately created a space with a very different feel to the classrooms throughout the school. Inspired by the school’s crest and branding in navy and gold, Helena made these colours a key feature, but muted the blue to create a modern colour palette that would suit all students from ages 11–18.
Flexible and dynamic
Flexibility was also key: as the school wanted a space suited to both reading for pleasure and study, where they could display books for students from Year 7 through to sixth form. Helena opted for Octo and Quarto seating, which can be reconfigured to change the layout of the space, and the tables can also be moved if desired – meaning the library can easily be refreshed over time.
Helena used shelving units of a range of heights to create a dynamic, interesting space, incorporating our Apto shelving range for front-facing book display. Streetly staff were keen to have distinct areas dedicated to particular genres and displays, so Helena used double-sided Apto shelves to create partitions within the overall space.
Our Apto shelving range is ideal for creating dynamic book displays
"The library that Peters designed for us is perfect for our school. The students have been very excited by our new space, and often comment on how calm it feels. I love that I can rearrange the chairs to create a different look/feel depending on the activity, and find it so useful to be able to change the shelving around for new book displays, or even extra shelving space. There is definitely a buzz around our library now which wasn't there before."Danielle Rose, Librarian |
Creating dynamic book displaysApto shelving has adjustable and front-facing shelves for picture books, fiction, non-fiction, magazines and more. |
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We supply the books too
Not only do we design and install library furniture for schools, we can supply your books, too – we selected a wide range of the latest fiction and non-fiction for Streetly Academy to engage pupils from Years 7 to 11.
Our team of qualified librarians and children's book specialists read and review more than 10,000 newly published books for children and young adults every year, so you can be confident that we can recommend the right books for your students. We can offer support and advice on everything from the latest fiction and non-fiction to Accelerated Reader, diverse and inclusive books and TikTok titles.
Designing libraries: start your school's transformation today
Work with our Interior Designers to realise your vision for a new school library or classroom reading area. From first renders to complete installation, we'll be with you every step.
Book a free consultation and 3D CAD design to start your design transformation journey.