Yorkon Off-site Project Wins Building Schools for the Future Award
A new building for one of Britain's oldest schools,
constructed off site by Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has won the Building
Schools for the Future Award at the Builder and Engineer Awards.
Designed by P+HS Architects, the
Hubert Jones Science Centre at Christ College in Brecon provides facilities which are
unrivalled in Wales,
as part of a major commitment to help develop the next generation of young
scientists.
The award recognised the project's
high quality design and how it applied education construction best practice to
a scheme built off site. The
construction team successfully delivered an exceptional building that will
inspire pupils to study science, and which is also highly sustainable and
flexible.
he use of off-site construction ensured
completion of the centre in just five months despite the challenging site, minimising
any disturbance to staff and pupils. 16 steel-framed building modules were
manufactured off site in York
and craned into position during school holidays to further minimise any
disruption to teaching.
Christ College was founded by
Royal Charter in 1541 by King Henry VIII and has buildings on its campus, which date back to the 13th Century.
Because of this and the building's sensitive location in the Brecon Beacons
National Park, the design
incorporated local materials such as Welsh sandstone from Llangorse Quarry, together
with render and timber cladding to complement the surrounding architecture.
The scheme also features a number of
sustainable measures to minimise impact on the environment, such as solar water
heating to reduce energy consumption, energy-efficient lighting, natural
ventilation and daylight, and high levels of insulation to conserve
energy.
The two-storey building expands the
science facilities at this independent boarding and day school, bringing all
the laboratories together under one roof and replacing an outdated 1950s block.
Two physics and two biology
laboratories, a sixth form project room, and laboratory technician's rooms are
grouped around a double height central atrium that functions as an additional
teaching area and exhibition space. This
central ‘street' also allows pupils to move through the space at peak times and
gather informally before and after lessons.
The building has been designed to be
flexible and adaptable to change. The
internal walls are non load-bearing and there are clear internal spans of up to
12m, so the teaching spaces and laboratories can easily be reconfigured to meet
the school's changing requirements over time.
