"The nicest thing about the new school," said the eight-year-old girl in the grey hat with the "GES" badge, is that it's a proper school and not just an old house."
The "proper" school is the new Government European School in Burton Street, Dar es Salaam, now nearly ready for occupation. The "old house" is the building next door where the school has been housed for a number of years.
Never was contrast so marked between two buildings with an identical purpose. The pupils will leave a building never intended for use as a school and where, in the words of a senior education official, "conditions are a bit primitive," for a modern, attractive building carefully planned to suit the climatic and other conditions of the country.
For the architects, Messrs. C. A. Bransgrove and Partners, who designed the school for the Tanganyika government, have followed closely ideas which have been successful is similar buildings in other tropical countries, notably in South America, but which have not hitherto been introduced into schools in this country.
As Miss Margaret Makins, Chief Architect for the Public Works Department, pointed out when she showed me over the school, there is a tendency, on entering any room in a Tanganyika building, to throw open the windows and doors immediately. So glass windows frequently have a doubtful value – and in any event require regular cleaning whether open or closed.
And so a large expanse of the walls in the school are of claustra panels. These, although of a modern design, nevertheless follow similar ideas which were used in the construction of old Arab and Moorish houses along the East African Coast. The effect inside is extremely pleasing, with absolutely no suggestion of "spots before the eyes."
The rooms have been so planned that at no time during school hours will the sun's direct rays penetrate as far as the actual classroom area, and so distract the children's attention.
Protection from freak storms such as those experienced in Dar es Salaam early this year can, if necessary, be given by quickly pulled-on plastic curtains. But this is an eventuality which would in any case present itself for only a comparatively short period in each year.
The school is built roughly to the lines of a right-angled "Z", with an open space for assembly, physical training or play beneath the first floor classrooms on the central and one wing. The third wing is devoted entirely to classrooms, two on each floor.
There are eight classrooms in all; two on the first floor of each of two wings, and two on each floor of the third wing.
Each pair, divided into two by connecting cloakrooms, has its own toilet and washroom accommodation in pleasant half-tiled rooms (blue or yellow predominating) and lock-up book stores, which obviate the necessity for unwieldy cupboards in the classrooms themselves.
The attractive colours used throughout the school have been carefully chosen to give a generally pleasing effect which should be stimulating without being startling.
In four classrooms, the predominating colour is an unusually attractive yellow, with an earth-red "blackboard"; buff is used for various parts of the room including the beaverboard screen for pictures and drawings.
In the other classrooms, deep and pale sky-blue replace the yellow and are used to advantage with, once again, buff, and "blackboards" of a very dark green.
Use of coloured chalks on the boards, instead of the usual white on black, will cut eye strain to a minimum.
Every classroom is provided with ample areas of beaver boarding with a set of lockers, neatly contained in one unit (painted blue or yellow, according to the room's colour scheme), where the children can store their lunch packs and other possessions.
French windows in the ground floor rooms give direct access to the play area at the rear of the building.
A wide staircase at each end of the main assembly area leads to the upper floors. Black granolithic flooring has been laid in all the classrooms. New furniture, in keeping with the modern design of the building, will be provided.
The other features of the building include a number of store rooms, and the headmistress's office and staff room (which has a balcony giving an excellent view of the playground), are both equipped with roomy cupboards.
Above the central wing are two flats, one for the headmistress and the other for a second teacher. Although not dissimilar in design, the choice of colours has given each a delightful individuality, noticeable, for example, in the pale pink and soft yellow tones which have been used for certain ceilings.
Balconies run the length of each flat and there is a useful terrace outside each kitchen.
Outside the school is an area of play space, sheltered here and there by large trees. A particularly lovely flamboyant stands in the forecourt, where wide paths will ensure the easy flow of morning and lunchtime traffic.
The large circular piece of ground here, and the large flower trough next to the entrance will be planted, and will no doubt ultimately provide an attractive display.
Although it had originally been intended to demolish the old school next door to extend the play area, this building is now to be retained and will be occupied by offices. The play area of the old school – where a climbing frame, a swing and a slide now stand – will ultimately disappear to provide car parking space for the new Government offices to be built nearby. For the present, however, it seems that it will be still available for children at the school.
An official at the Education Department says that it is hoped that the change-over from the old school to the new will take place during the two months' holiday which began yesterday.
With the eight classrooms (the same number as at the Oyster Bay Government European School) the school can obviously accommodate more children than the 120 who are at present attending the school next door.
Commenting on this, the official said it had been planned to cater for the increased number of children, who, with the continuing increase in population, will ultimately want to attend the school. No immediate increase in numbers is, however, anticipated, as there are no children out of school because of lack of spaces.
Footnote: There's reassurance for anxious parents who foresee possible difficulties from the holes in the claustra panels. Experiments – conducted with a two-year-old whose head was considerably smaller than that of any present or future pupil of the school (who are five years old and over) – have proved that heads cannot by pushed through the holes. It is, of course, possible to climb the panels… but normal school discipline should rule out that possibility.
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Charles Alfred 'Peter' Bransgrove, the architect of the Government European School, was born in Surrey, England on 7th April 1914. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Engineers and was posted to India. After the war he moved to Tanganyika to work as an architect on the failed Groundnut Scheme. He died in Nairobi, Kenya on 26th January 1966.
Published in the Tanganyika Standard, 27 January 1966:
One of East Africa's most noted architects, Mr. Charles Alfred 'Peter' Bransgrove, of C.A. Bransgrove and Partners, died in a Nairobi hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning. Mr. Bransgrove was admitted to the hospital late last year.
Born in Surrey, England, Mr. Bransgrove qualified as an architect at the Royal Academy of Arts before the outbreak of the Second World War. He moved to Tanganyika after the war. From 1951 to 1955 he was a member of the Dar es Salaam City Council and he also served on the Tanganyika Advisory Council for Education and National Housing Corporation. Mr. Bransgrove was chairman of the International School Board of Directors.
Throughout Tanzania today there are many landmarks to show proof of his professional ability, including in Dar es Salaam Permanent House, Barclays DCO, Luther House, where his firm is located, and Pamba House, where the Ministry for Agriculture is located.
A memorial service is to be held at 4.30 p.m. at St. Albans Church, Dar es Salaam, tomorrow. Mr. Bransgrove leaves a widow and five daughters.
The information about Peter Bransgrove, his obituary and his photograph, were very kindly provided by Graham Hutton B.Arch., who is a grandson of Peter Bransgrove.
See also: Buildings Designed by C.A. Bransgrove