From the Cley reedbeds, a series of thatched roofs peak out between the existing village and the new settlement, creating a courtyard where children from both communities gather together.

The Montessori Primary School is burrowed within the natural landscape, providing an unconventional learning environment that transitions between indoors and outdoors. Its philosophy is to recognise the child as an individual with natural interests, capable of establishing connections and developing with the environment and the community.

The building's architecture is tailored to the child. It stands in celebration of vernacular building techniques, its material selection is organic and welcoming, and its orientation celebrates the path of the sun across the school day starting with an east-facing entrance basked in the morning light.

The school’s central courtyard captures local village life, framing views along the River Glaven to adjacent textile, printing, distilling and trade industries. In each of the five huts, the space opens up to a sky of interwoven, exposed timber trusses balanced upon a domestic scale plinth.