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Safe and Comfortable Buildings the right of all pupils

According to documents leaked to The Observer newspaper, deteriorating school buildings in England are a “risk to life.”

The leaked emails are from officials working for the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, as part of a weekly update to Downing Street from the Department for Education (DfE).

The leak states that: “School buildings: the deteriorating condition of the school estate continues to be a risk, with condition funding flat for FY [financial year] 2022-23, some sites a risk-to-life, too many costly and energy-inefficient repairs rather than rebuilds, and rebuild demand x3 supply.”

The Observer article also reports that this is the second time DfE officials have raised this issue.

 

A 2019 report from The Guardian suggested that 17 per cent (3,731) of schools were found to have buildings with roofs, walls or windows, in need of immediate repair.

In a statement given to The Observer, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union said:

“All children deserve to learn in high quality, safe and comfortable buildings. But in 2022-23, capital funding is £1.9 billon less per year in real terms than it was in the last years of the Labour government. If the government had not cut Labour’s school rebuilding programme, £27 billon more would have been spent on school and college buildings. So, while any money spent on school buildings is welcome, the scale needs to be judged against what has been cut, which is 50 times larger.

“The challenges that need to be addressed are huge. And whether the issue to be addressed is potentially dangerous roofing, retrofitting for energy efficiency and to help meet climate obligations, or basic repairs, the challenge is made all the greater by the presence of asbestos in so many school buildings. The government needs to show much more ambition and urgently address these issues in a strategic way.”

 

The School Rebuilding Programme

 

The School Rebuilding Programme plans to refurbish education buildings in priority order according to their condition. The first 50 schools to join the programme were announced in February 2021, and a further 50 in July 2021.

From 2022 to 2023, the programme expects to prioritise up to 300 schools, reserving the remaining places for later in the programme.

A 2019 report from The Guardian suggested that 17 per cent (3,731) of schools were found to have buildings with roofs, walls or windows, in need of immediate repair.

Of the 21,796 schools researched, 1,313 had elements that were graded D, defined as “life expired and/or serious risk of imminent failure”.

 

Source: This Week in FM

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Campus connectivity for St. Cecilia’s

Thurston provided a new two storey, Modular Classroom block that tied into the existing school buildings on the campus.
As the major part of this campus upgrade project, volumetric modular was chosen to minimise on-site risks whilst achieving an advanced delivery programme.
Precision manufacturing methods allowed the building to be manufacturing in a controlled setting off-site, greatly reducing dust or contamination levels on site.

  • Features:
    Two-Storey
    3 ICT Suites
    Fully Equipped Science Laboratory
    7 Classrooms
    Rooftop PV Array
    BREEAM “Excellent”

Working with principal contractor Kier Construction, the work consisted of removing two temporary classrooms from a open courtyard, then designing and building a two storey, 24 bay modular classroom block in the London borough of Wandsworth.
Consisting internally of three dedicated ICT suites, a fully fitted science laboratory along with seven classrooms. The building has multiple separate entrances over various levels and fire exits, thus providing total flexibility when utilising the space for differing education functions.
Externally the project included removing a temporary classroom facility, and previous sub-structure and replacing with all new foundations, utility services, footpaths and an access road with external landscaping and drainage.

Due to planning conditions and the rural setting, the exterior walls were finished in a brick slip and render finish, with aluminium doors and windows to comply with all Building Regulations.
The new teaching block houses photovoltaic cells on its roof to generate electricity.  Each classroom includes a heat recovery ventilation unit to avoid wasting heat in winter.  The ventilation units extract hot air from the new classrooms and use it to preheat the fresh air as it is brought in to ensure an optimum classroom environment for learning.
An air source heat pump was also installed (which extracts heat from the air and transfers it into our heating and hot water system to reduce gas bills); and also to upgrade corridor and classrooms lights to new energy efficient LED systems.

CUSTOMER COMMENT
“The new build extension has been designed to complement St Cecilia’s Church of England School’s existing buildings, to maintain connectivity with the main school and ensure cohesion across the campus. It was important to encourage unity between both the buildings and students in each facility.”

www.thurstongroup.co.uk

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ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING FOR DURHAM UNIVERSITY

An exciting new venue to enhance the teaching and learning experience at Durham University

 

Zumtobel Group’s lighting brands Zumtobel and Thorn have supplied an energy efficient lighting scheme for Durham University’s new Teaching and Learning Centre at the Lower Mountjoy Building, a new £40 million construction that offers students the ideal space to study. Zumtobel and Thorn have supplied a wide range of luminaires for the project, both internally and externally, providing LED energy efficiency, an excellent working environment and improved colour rendition.

The Lower Mountjoy Building lies near to Durham City Centre conservation area. The Teaching and Learning Centre includes lecture theatres, classrooms, seminar rooms, catering facilities, an education laboratory, breakout spaces and student learning zones, with great amenities and top-of-the-range digital equipment. The building consists of 12 modular blocks and provides a transition between the modern university buildings nearby and the more traditional and classical architecture of the adjacent buildings. Up to 1,600 students can be taught at the centre, which has spaces for individual and collaborative study, nearly 200 computer laboratory spaces and an experimental education laboratory to trial new learning methods.

 

Many of the areas have concrete ceilings so the lighting had to integrate with acoustic rafts. Zumtobel’s LINCOR was selected as the best lighting solution. LINCOR pendant LED luminaires are suspended from the concrete ceilings to deliver high visual comfort from superior direct/indirect illumination with no reflected glare. More importantly, thanks to the central part from which no light is emitted downwards, the luminaire meets the highest demands regarding contrast rendition, even when placed directly above the workstation. This avoids annoying reflections on glossy surfaces and is therefore ideally suited for working on tablet devices and computers.

Zumtobel’s SUPERSYSTEM II multifunctional LED modules for low voltage track have been utilised in the restaurant/dining area and track mounted DISCUS spotlights in the main atrium. This SUPERSYSTEM II slim-profile LED spotlight track system for low-voltage lighting applications, is 1 inch wide and provides a full range of lighting options for general, accent, direct, indirect, and wall-washing applications in lumen packages up to 1,250 lumens. DISCUS is a state-of-the-art spotlight system, its delicate but robust design is creatively inspired by cutting-edge LED technology: a flat, minimalist shape with an unmistakable appearance – characterised by the radial fins of the passive heatsink and its illuminated replaceable optic.

The brief for the offices required recessed luminaires with good cylindrical and horizontal illumination that could be installed in various ceiling types, whilst more aesthetically pleasing than a basic flat panel. Thorn’s IQ Wave provided the ideal solution to support comfort, alertness and happiness by taking into consideration the variety of different functions, forms of communication and the physical nature of modern learning spaces. The ideal classroom light distribution is achieved with the help of a special reflector and ensures perfect light for various tasks, the general space and the different forms of personal communication between teachers and pupils. IQ Wave achieves a unified glare rating of <19, in line with the EN 12464 standard on workplace lighting.

Thorn’s Chalice, with a high efficacy of 106lm/W for low energy consumption and less than 100mm in height, illuminates the circulation areas.

Thorn’s Duoproof, a durable high bay luminaire offering performance, high-tech appearance and flexibility, illuminates the kitchen and Aquaforce Pro is installed throughout the plant areas.

The exterior of the facility had to be lit sympathetically to deal with the ever-changing landscape and Thorn’s Piazza LED was the perfect solution for providing accent illumination with a touch of style for the perimeter. As a versatile lighting system for decorative area and path lighting, the extensive Urban Deco family from Thorn, which includes post, pendant lighting and bollard luminaires, illuminates the pathway entrance bollards and the 3 – 5 metre columns for the pathways, along with recessed LINN around the edge of the footpath close to the building.

With a diverse range of world-class environments, the Lower Mountjoy Centre is an exciting new venue to enhance the teaching and learning experience at Durham University, the efficiency of the chosen luminaires helped the new facility to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of A.

So, far the reaction from students has been really positive.

For more information on Zumtobel please visit the website www.z.lighting and for Thorn www.thornlighting.co.uk

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first net-zero college building

Approval granted for Fife College to progress with

The Scottish Government has agreed that Fife College can progress to the next stage of its project to deliver the first net zero tertiary education building in Scotland.

Having submitted the business case for the new Dunfermline campus in August, Scottish ministers agreed to invest up to £100 million in providing a low carbon, modern, flexible learning space for students.

Within the £100 million funding, additional money has been made available by the Scottish Government to ensure that the project goes beyond net zero targets and doesn’t just offset carbon dioxide emissions, but continues to deliver reductions in operational carbon after completion.

Low embodied carbon construction materials will be specified for the project and will include materials with high recycled content. Waste will be minimised through the design process and there will be a strong focus on diverting as much of the construction waste from landfill as possible.

These steps will help deliver the Scottish Government’s target for transforming buildings and the systems that supply their heat to ensure a transition to net zero emissions by 2045, in line with the Climate Change Act 2019.

Principal of Fife College, Dr Hugh Hall said:

“We’re incredibly ambitious about what we want to achieve with this new campus.

“Not only do we want it to provide world-class facilities for our students, but we want the building itself to reflect the latest developments in low carbon construction.

“That’s why we’ve worked with the Scottish Government to go beyond Net Zero and ensure that our new campus has a long-term positive effect on emissions.

“The extra funding we’ve received will enable us to achieve our environmental ambitions, and to deliver the first tertiary education building in the UK that meets these standards.

“The approval of our business case is a significant milestone in the project to deliver the new Dunfermline Learning Campus, and we’re eager to get started.”

The campus will host the College’s delivery of sports, science, built environment, creative industries, care, business enterprise & tourism and will reflect a collaborative approach to learning, with an emphasis on engagement with business and innovation.

The aim is to create an innovative learning campus that provides a streamlined pathway for students from school through to further and higher education, as well as providing state of the art facilities to meet the learning and training needs of businesses and the wider community.

Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, Karen Watt, said:

“We are delighted to support the plans for the new Fife College on the Dunfermline Learning Campus.

“They are ambitious and ground-breaking, designed to enhance the experience of students and to meet stretching environmental performance standards as we move to becoming a net zero nation. We will be working closely with all partners to bring this ambition to life.”

The build is part of the wider 58-acre Dunfermline Learning Campus site in the eastern expansion area of Dunfermline – an innovative, integrated and collaborative venture to relocate Fife College’s Dunfermline Campus, St Columba’s RC High School and Woodmill High School to a purpose-built new site, due to open in the Summer of 2024.

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Safety & style from Schüco

Schüco Jansen steel fire doors offer safety and style at Begravia’s well-known Francis Holland School, Sloane Square.

The Old School House at the historic Francis Holland School in Sloane Square, London, has undergone an extensive renovation which includes the addition of glazed steel-framed screens and Schüco Jansen steel fire doors throughout the building.
As part of a transformation that has brought the building into the modern era without sacrificing history or style, the new steel screening and fire doors increase the vital element of safety in the space.
The steel units were specified by the main contractor, Forcia, and fabricated by Park Architectural after designs by IID Architects were agreed.

Simon Tupper, Director at IID Architects, explains: “The objective for this project was to create a new inspirational Sixth Form centre within a former boys’ primary school building, the Old School House, built in the 1850s but more recently used as an office for an architectural practice. This involved the creation of seven new seminar rooms, a common room, a quiet study space, a science laboratory and prep room, a fitness suite, two staff office/meeting rooms and a kitchen/dining area. In its brief, the school stated that it was looking for a ‘modern design which is sympathetic to the heritage of the site and which reflects the vision for creativity and enterprise’.
“Fire doors play a key role in the fire-protection strategy in any building. Primarily, they should allow the building occupants to evacuate safely and rapidly in the event of a fire. However, they should also be able to retain fire and smoke for longer than other types of door. The correct specification of fire doors is vital to the success and safety of the building.”

 

Fire and smoke are amongst the most serious hazards facing any building. The Schüco Jansen steel fire doors have provided a comprehensive, tested solution for the Old School House. With slender profiles and slim sightlines, the doors bring a modern and stylish finish to the new Sixth Form building and allow natural light to flow through the space.
In addition to the fire doors, bespoke steel-framed Schüco Jansen glazed screens with arched tops enclose some of the rooms without blocking light.

Nic Roccia, Project Manager at Forcia, explains why Schüco Jansen was selected for the project: “Steel is increasingly popular but with traditional steel frames there aren’t any thermal breaks and they don’t achieve the proper fire ratings.
“We’ve used Schüco Jansen on a number of projects because it’s a high-quality, durable product and, more importantly, it is fully tested. This allows us to achieve the look of traditional-style steel windows and doors while achieving the technical performance values required to meet fire regulations.”
Chris Newman, Technical Services Manager at Schüco, offered his insights: “The importance of adequate fire protection in public buildings must always be considered in specific relation to the project to ensure a completely suitable solution.
“Fully tested and approved, these stylish, slimline fire doors deliver both the aesthetic and performance that clients demand and that specifiers are increasingly looking for.”

A comprehensive collection of fittings and accessories enables the specifier to customise the doors to perfectly complement any application. These fittings and accessories include locks, strike plates, electric strikes, door handles and specially developed 3D adjustable screw-on and weld-on hinges.
The whole scheme at Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, comprised a full fit-out, including complete services replacement and high-quality bespoke joinery, all completed within a tight schedule to meet the school calendar. The project was completed in December 2020.

www.schueco.com/uk

 

 

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DAYLIGHT ENHANCES WELLBEING AND LEARNING

 

At a time when the health and wellbeing of students has never been more important, the use of daylight in educational facilities can be a hugely beneficial way to maximise student performance and productivity whilst at the same time helping to lower a building’s energy use. By introducing rooflights, including domes, vaults, pitched skylights or panel glazing systems, it is possible to deliver resilient and future-proofed educational spaces that encourage learning, concentration and positive student behaviour.

Despite the closure of schools and colleges and the disruption caused by the pandemic, children spend on average more than 7,800 hours at school throughout their education with a large amount of time in the classroom. Studies have shown that students felt at their best under rooflight or natural lighting, whilst teachers appreciate the good light transmission, good colour rendition and good behaviour demonstrated under the conditions created by rooflights.

According to The Department for Education Building Design Bulletin 90, ‘The school designer should assume that daylight will be the prime means of lighting when it is available’. With daylight considered a fundamental design criterion, rooflights can help maximise the transmission of natural light to the interior of a school.

Partnering with local authorities, architects and schools, Brett Martin has a deep understanding of the specific requirements of the education sector. Providing expert, impartial technical advice on rooflight specification, the manufacturer’s team has access to the widest choice of rooflight products available, in the full range of glazing materials. An intuitive and experienced technical team ensure compliance with Part L and help to achieve higher BREEAM ratings.

In addition to new build construction, architects and designers refurbishing and upgrading older school buildings can reap the benefits of rooflights. Brett Martin has offered guidance and advice to specifiers wanting to transform courtyards into classrooms, provide canopies and covered walkways, replace existing rooflights and develop bespoke daylight solutions for halls and circulation areas, leisure facilities and classrooms.

op class daylight performance

At the Tauheedul Islam Boys High School in Blackburn, a range of rooflight solutions from Brett Martin are helping to deliver exceptional levels of daylight into the school and sports hall whilst reducing demand for electric lighting, lowering CO 2 emissions and running costs.

Built by Wates Construction, the three-storey secondary school in Blackburn serves approximately 800 students. With the school refectory requiring a natural light source to optimise internal environment conditions, the Marvault system provided the optimum combination of light transmission, UV protection and thermal performance, whilst having a positive impact on students’ wellbeing. For the sports hall, a specialist high performance glass was required which led to the specification of Glass Link modular rooflights. This flat glass rooflight system maximises daylight through large glazed areas and minimal framework, meeting the requirement for high light transmission and thermal performance.

Brett Martin not only designs a wide range of systems to deliver optimum performance, durability, safety and adherence to regulations and standards – it provides superior technical support, detailed installation instructions and maintenance guidelines to ensure systems perform as promised and work alongside all other roofing elements.

The specification and installation of the Marvault and Glass Link rooflights at Tauheedul Islam Boys High School flood the communal areas and sports hall with high quality natural daylight and are playing a crucial role in both the aesthetic and thermal performance of the school.

Watch the video highlighting this case study and products: CLICK HERE

To find out more about Brett Martin visit: www.brettmartin.com

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Supporting investment in our schools

In 2020 the Prime Minister announced a major school rebuilding programme, which will not only start to address the problems of ageing buildings, but also help to create the extra space needed for the growing number of secondary age pupils. 50 school building projects are to share £1 billion in the first phase of the 10-year investment programme, with an extra £560 million being made available for upgrades and repairs.

Smart Architectural Aluminium’s Managing Director, Eddie Robinson, said: “The Government’s focus on re-building schools is great news for education. We will bring our experience and expertise to support this initiative, working with our fabrication and installation partners to deliver effective and efficient solutions for these critically important projects.”
Smart’s systems have been used extensively across a wide range of both new build and refurbishment education projects, from nursery and primary schools right up to some of the UK’s most prestigious universities.
The Lanchester Community Free School, the University of Roehampton and Ivanhoe College are just three of many project examples in this sector, each demonstrating the company’s range of systems and solutions, selected to meet specific requirements.

For the refurbishment of the locally-listed, Art Deco-style Lanchester Community Free School in Watford, windows and doors from the company’s Alitherm Heritage range were specified.
With a design requirement to retain the slim lines of the building’s original steel windows, over 70 window assemblies (covering approximately 650m² in total) and 15 door entrances were installed from the Alitherm Heritage range, the doors being set in the Smart MC Wall framing system. The window and door profiles were all finished in white polyester powder coating at the company’s state-of-the-art paint facility, matching the materials being replaced and providing a robust, durable and low-maintenance finish.
Designed to meet the requirements of heritage projects and listed buildings, all Alitherm Heritage windows deliver enhanced thermal performance. Similarly, the system’s doors are ideally suited to school projects, which typically have a high footfall and heavy usage. Certified to PAS24 for security and BS6375 for weather testing, rebated doors are also available to provide an effective ‘anti-finger trap’ solution, which is perfect for heavily trafficked, public buildings.
For Ivanhoe College, the installation of Smart Alitherm 600 windows made a significant improvement, not only to its outward appearance, but also to the learning environment and the energy efficiency of the building. The programme to replace the school’s old windows with the modern, thermally-efficient Alitherm 600 system followed the successful completion of the first phase of an extensive refurbishment programme in March 2013, with the windows having been installed with minimal disruption to both staff and pupils, allowing the school to continue to operate.
This versatile Alitherm 600 system provides a wide range of solutions for light commercial applications. Offering the design flexibility to create the appearance of a traditional casement window, or a more contemporary style for modern applications, the system is the perfect solution for schools such as Ivanhoe. Alitherm 600 provides excellent thermal performance and is designed to meet the exacting requirements of Document L 2020.
Eddie Robinson continued: “Our development team works closely with clients, architects and our fabricator and installation partners to deliver the right solution for each individual project, making sure that we deliver systems that work successfully from both an aesthetic perspective, and a construction one.
“Across our ranges, we have seen schools transformed into modern, bright and energy efficient buildings, providing benefits to both students and staff. We have a huge portfolio of products and systems that we can draw on depending on the specific project requirements, including our high-performance EcoFutural range, which offers a wide choice of options for the ultimate in thermal performance and weather protection.”
Eddie Robinson concluded: “With a tailored range of products backed by our market-leading technical support services, we have a complete package of solutions for the education sector. We are looking forward to working with local authorities, schools, architects and designers, as well as our supply chain partners, to help deliver the Government’s rebuilding programme and to support the regeneration of our critical education infrastructure.”

www.smartsystems.co.uk

 

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The Common Assessment Standard from CHAS: What you need to know

CHAS, Managing Director Ian McKinnon

 

The rollout of a new data-sharing agreement between the Common Assessment Standard providers means the benefits of qualifying for and specifying the scheme are greater than ever. CHAS, Managing Director Ian McKinnon explains more.

 

What is the Common Assessment Standard?

Since its launch in 2019, the Common Assessment Standard has fast become the construction industry’s gold standard for prequalification.

Led by Build UK, with the support of CECA, the scheme has been designed to replace multiple assessment schemes with one comprehensive industry-agreed questionnaire, based on existing prequalification questionnaires, including PAS 91.

Previously the PQ system was complex and repetitive, with an estimated 180,000 specialist contractors required to produce over two million pieces of paper every year for 5,000 contractors at a cost of up to £1 billion.

The Common Assessment Standard cuts through this inefficiency while helping the industry manage risk across a wider range of criteria such as sustainability, modern slavery and financial performance.

 

Who specifies the Common Assessment Standard?

As the Common Assessment standard is resetting a long-established system, a phased approach is being taken to its rollout. This allows companies to adopt the Common Assessment Standard at a time that suits them; however, it has already gained strong support from both the public and private sectors. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) requires that contractors appointed to its seven-year framework assess their supply chains using the Common Assessment Standard, and it is expected to feature in the details of the Government’s new Construction Playbook. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) also supports the scheme.

Many major contractors have also moved swiftly to specifying the new standard, with this figure expected to rise now that the data-sharing agreement is in place.

 

What’s the relevance of the data-sharing agreement?

CHAS was the first accreditation body to offer the Common Assessment Standard in 2019 via the CHAS Premier package. Although contractors could now take the assessment with other approved assessment bodies, the data-sharing agreement means the details of everyone who passes the assessment can be accessed via any of the providers, regardless of which assessment body carries out the audit. For CHAS contractors, this means they only need to complete the Common Assessment Standard once a year with CHAS to qualify for a wide range of work rather than having to sign up to multiple schemes – saving time and money.

Meanwhile, clients looking for pre-qualified contractors simply specify the Common Assessment Standard to find contractors accredited to a single, consistent industry-agreed standard. Clients can access a database of these contractors via the services of any of the assessment bodies – such as the free CHAS Client Portal.

 

Why choose CHAS?

As well as being the founder of third party accreditation and a trusted authority on supply chain risk management, CHAS is renowned for providing a friendly and efficient service and high customer satisfaction levels.

CHAS contractors receive additional benefits such as access to e-learning resources, discounted fuel and shopping schemes and business insurance. CHAS is also committed to helping contractors who are not yet ready to complete the Common Assessment Standard to work towards higher levels of accreditation.

Meanwhile, it is free, quick and easy for clients to sign up to the CHAS Client Portal where they will also find a suite of complimentary supply chain management and procurement tools.

 

How can you find out more?

To find out more about qualifying for, or specifying, the Common Assessment Standard, visit www.chas.co.uk or call 0345 521 9111

 

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The Design of Education Spaces

The ongoing pandemic has been a disruption to the everyday routines of billions around the world, as due to being confined to their households, the separation between work and rest has become extremely blurry, with people forced to rethink and reconfigure the layout of their personal spaces. Conversations have abounded on how to create flexible working spaces in a home environment, and if offices themselves are an outdated model that we should leave behind. A missing part of that conversation, however, is the impact that the pandemic has had on children, specifically primary-school level children, on their education – as inequalities are emphasized, some children learning with slow internet connection speeds, or struggling to have the space required to adequately complete educational activities.

With early-education schools playing a vital part in the social and emotional development of children, the design of their interior spaces are just as important as the design of the exterior itself, as a majority of time being spent learning inside the building. As architects in a post-pandemic world go on to design early educational buildings, apt attention should be paid to the interior design of the educational spaces – which have a psychological impact on how a child learns. The following are selected interior design features on what makes a calming, welcoming, and dynamic educational space, with corresponding architectural projects selected which contain those features.

 

High Ceilings

The Children’s School by Salas Arquitectura + Diseño in Cariñena, Spain, contains high ceilings which in turn are also able to bring in a lot of natural light. Rooms with high ceilings enable learners to pay more attention and facilitate a better learning environment than with enclosed spaces – which can increase the stress hormone.

 

Closeness to nature

Studies show that incorporating plants in the classroom improves the grades of middle school students – and makes students and staff feel more comfortable, regardless of their age. O-office Architects’ Hongling Experimental Primary School contains greenery interspersed within its campus, providing for a welcome presence of nature amidst the interior design of the building.

Natural Light

A Pattern Language, the seminal book by Emeritus Profesor of Architecture at UC Berkeley, Christopher Alexander – mentions the fact that low light levels in classrooms affected students’ ability to regulate the body’s natural cycle of sleep and arousal. The Community Primary School for Girls in Keheme, Sierra Leone, designed by Orkidstudio, achieves this with the presence of large openings in the wall coupled with the presence of a raised roof, which in addition to providing ventilation also allows the classrooms to be light-filled, inviting spaces.

Flexibility

As with coworking spaces, students also benefit from open, fluid classroom layouts. The ability to move furniture around and create spaces that accommodate different types of learning provides a flexible environment to suit the needs of various students at various times. Lan-Tian Elementary School by Studio In2 contains a curved wall that provides the dual function of both privacy for the interior side and book storage on the exterior side of the room. The Hongling Experimental Primary School, mentioned earlier, contains drum-shaped plans which allow for multiple configurations of the classrooms.

 

 

 

Written by Matthew Maganga architecture student at the University of Kent

 

Source: ArchDaily

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Derbyshire School Rising from the Ashes

Artist’s impression of how the new Ravensdale Infant and Nursery School will look (Image: Lungfish Architects)

 

The design for a new £8 million Derby school to replace the previous one destroyed in an arson attack last October have been revealed.

It includes areas for outdoor learning and also more energy-efficient features within the school building.

The new school will site on the footprint of the old school, which has now been demolished and pupils are attending classes at other venues in the city.

The design and access statement says that the building will be split into two sections joined by a link corridor, with the main entrance, hall, and administration area to the north east facing the shared access road.

And there will be a separate area to the south along the eastern half of the site, which includes the infant and nursery classrooms, toilets and group spaces.

Natural light and ventilation feature throughout the building and LED lighting, automatic lighting controls and daylight dimming will be used to make the building more energy efficient.

External hard play and paths have been retained where possible and an existing car park reconfigured with additional cycle racks.

Areas of hard standing with external canopies will be provided direct from each classroom to suit direct outdoor learning that can be utilised in all weather.

 

To the south of the site, it is proposed to maintain some existing hard standing and areas of habitat and planting the school has developed as part of their forest school ethos and area of soft informal grassed area.

It is not possible to give final costs at this stage, but it is expected that the overall new build cost will be in the region of £8,045,000.

The recovery plan for the school has four overlapping phases.

These include the demolition of the damaged school and temporary arrangements on the school site for pupils, a partial return to the school site for nursery and one year group.

It also includes relocation to a second temporary site for all other children, which will be at the new Castleward Primary School from September this year and a return for all pupils into the new school in 2022.

 

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service was unable to contain the fire and the majority of the building and most of the contents were lost in the blaze which took place on early on Monday, October 5.

Police are still investigating the fire at the school.

 

 

 

The planning application is expected to be decided within the next eight to 12 weeks.

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