I AM writing this having just watched the Channel Four programme in which the winner of the RIBA Stirling prize for architecture 2004 was revealed.

One of the short-listed buildings featured was the Business Academy Bexley, a state comprehensive school. The innovative design had taken several decades to become a reality and had finally only done so because the project received substantial backing from a private source.

We were introduced to children who clearly wanted to be at school

because they were proud of the new environment and were informed by the headmaster that vandalism was no longer a problem.

Deborah Bull asserted at the end of the programme that good building pays and this one clearly had, not just by being hugely visually stimulating, but also by inspiring children in a way that has already fed back with quite astonishing improvements in examination results.

I will admit that when I first visited St John's School in Marlborough, my impressions were negative.

For me the tired and depressing environment in which the school was forced to exist largely negated the vision and undoubted enthusiasm of staff.

Design is not just a matter of personal preference but affects at a fundamental level who we are and who we aspire to be.

I have recently had the opportunity to see the plans for the new school. They go far beyond my expectations as to what could be achieved without massive injections of private finance. They provide us with the opportunity to create an enormously exciting and ecologically aware space for our children in this new century.

The winner of the Stirling prize stated that all architecture needs champions, so come on Marlborough, let's get behind this project and make it happen.

MRS S SNOWDEN

Lockeridge

Marlborough