UPFRONT
BUILDING VALUE INTO SCHOOLS Today’s educational facilities must not only provide effective teaching environments, but must also provide a community hub that’s sustainable, long lasting and multi-functional. However, there are a number of ageing schools still in use that are just not designed to meet the expectations placed on contemporary buildings.
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he imperative to construct a new generation of schools that meet a higher standard of operational, social and sustainable demands is illustrated by the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools and Colleges programme. This was implemented to ensure that demand for new school places would be met with advanced establishments able to provide high-quality teaching spaces that would deliver maximum value for the local area. Morgan Sindall Construction has been working on two new secondary schools in south Wales as part of the 21st Century Schools and Colleges programme to replace existing sites. The Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School in Neath and the Whitmore High School in Barry showcase how to create contemporary educational facilities fit for the challenges they will face.
Colour, space and stairs at Cefn Saeson At the £27m Cefn Saeson project, which opened earlier this year three months ahead of schedule, a two-storey, 97,000ft 2 building was required with space for 800 pupils. This site incorporates a range of state-of-the-art facilities, including 48 classrooms, creative workspaces, art studios, a bespoke learning support centre for students with additional learning needs and ICT facilities with integrated mobile technology.
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As a sports-oriented school, it has a number of high-end physical education areas, such as a competition level hockey pitch, 3G rugby pitch, an activity studio and four multi-use games areas. For the Neath Port Talbot Council, which commissioned the project as part of its Strategic School Improvement Programme (SSIP), it was important that the school avoided an “institutional” look and feel. Instead, the council’s preference is that the schools in its area convey a more architectural, university campusstyle aesthetic. A bright, open design with lots of texture and colour was developed to meet this requirement. Externally, the striking architectural features are immediately evident as the design played up to the school’s location. Being on top of a mountain, the building was built so that it would appear very prominent, as though it’s sticking out from the surrounding hillside. This makes the dark grey external cladding near the entrance all the more eye-catching, particularly as it’s on a raking angle that runs diagonally across the top half of the building, contrasting with the bricks that make up the bottom half. The vibrant red cladding that’s visible on the side of a building adjacent to the entrance provides a pop of colour that really distinguishes the facade from what you’d normally expect at a secondary school.
Internally, acoustic feature timber panelling was used in circulation areas such as the main atrium to break up the wall space. A number of architectural features were utilised in the dining room to create a vibrant atmosphere. Along with the timber panelling, this included a broad orange stripe across one wall that divides the white background, contrasting grey and white floor areas and floating, glass-fronted secondstorey offices above half the dining area. One particularly key feature was the inclusion of Hellerup stairs, the visually-iconic concrete staircase design that’s reminiscent of casual breakout areas in universities and large campuses. The wide, open-plan nature of these stairs allows students to sit and mingle while also easily being able to move between different areas.
Student-first design at Whitmore High School The 11,000m2 Whitmore High School will have a slightly larger capacity than the Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School, as it will provide places for 1100 pupils across its 70 classrooms, two drama and activity studios, a state-of-the-art music studio, art learning resource centre and multi-functional hall with retractable seating. It will also feature an inclusive ALN suite to support students with additional learning needs, as well as both indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, including an all-weather pitch and multi-use games court.
