The Practice was employed by Warwickshire County Council to undertake a comprehensive redevelopment of this Primary School to amalgamate it onto one site from two separate locations within a suburban area of Rugby.
Phase I comprised of the refurbishment of the existing 3-storey teaching block to provide configured teaching accommodation. Considerable attention was given to improving fire safety in the timber-framed construction which dated back to the 1960s. Undertaking the work in sections with close co-operation with the school was essential in ensuring that the school remained fully operational at all times.
Our brief for phase II was to provide the necessary additional accommodation to facilitate the consolidation, bringing the social benefits to the children through the interaction between wider age groups, whilst also bringing economic and management benefits of a centralised facility. In addition, the scheme incorporates accommodation for a pre-school nursery.
With regards to the design strategy, the new facilities wrap around the sports changing wing of the existing building; facing out onto the playing fields. The new classrooms are designed with mono-pitch roofs to provide interesting internal spaces, whilst the external canopies have sustainability benefits through solar shading and provide essential external cover to the external teaching areas. Circulation and ancillary spaces have flat roofs to allow for the provision of north-facing clerestory windows into the main teaching spaces.
