Our society is ageing; with an average life expectancy of 80, today’s pensioners have an unprecedented level of political and economic power. Can the Big Society agenda succeed 
by mobilising a ‘grey army’ of retired volunteers?


Placing civic education at the heart of democratic politics, Old School proposes utilising free school legislation to create condensed urban schools in which community services are run by the elderly. A landscape of play, café and library links the central hub with a flexible network of classroom and sports provision utilising vacant buildings and open spaces in the surrounding area.