York High School
New Teaching Facilities
"Teaching staff and pupils genuinely love this building. The external appearance is excellent. You would never know this is a modular building!"
The Requirement
York High School - York's newest secondary school, had a requirement for a purpose-designed and highly sustainable education building to extend the site of the former Oaklands School, and create a new, larger campus following the merger of two schools.
The Solution
The £10m contract was awarded to Clugston Construction to refurbish and extend the campus. Yorkon was appointed to construct a £2m building using off-site construction. This comprised 52 steel-framed units in two different sizes, which were craned into position in just six days, reducing disruption and time on site by around 50 per cent.
Completed in only six months, the new two-storey 1,900sqm scheme has replaced a number of sub-standard teaching buildings with state-of-the-art education facilities, and accommodates the Communications Faculty for English and Modern Languages, and the Inclusion Faculty.
The building comprises:
seven general classrooms - four language laboratories
- a new science laboratory
- dining and social facilities
- offices
- behaviour management rooms
- a hygiene suite
- toilets for staff and pupils.
Architectural features include:
- a barrel-vaulted roof with central light wells
- an impressive oversailing roof which forms an entrance canopy
- a range of external claddings to create a statement building - cedar and terracotta, with metal rainscreen panels to the upper floor on each elevation.
A Sustainable School Building
There are also a number of sustainable elements to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and running costs:
- Biomass heating
- Passive ventilation
- The use of light wells and a high level of glazing to maximise natural light and reduce the reliance on artificial lighting
- Rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing
- Timber cladding from sustainable sources.
The building has also 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 can easily be reconfigured to meet the school's changing requirements over time.
Comments from the Project Team
David Ellis, Head Teacher, York High School:
"Teaching staff and pupils genuinely love this building. It is spacious and light, with wide corridors for ease of circulation. The external appearance is excellent. It makes a positive statement for the school and sits well with the existing adjacent sports centre - and the canopy brings both buildings together. We are also pleased with the inclusion facility. You would never know this is a modular building!"
Alan Thomas, Architect, City of York Council:
"This is the first time we have used off-site construction for a new school building, and we are very impressed. The construction process, management of the site, and the liaison with the main contractor, all worked very well, and Yorkon's design resources were beneficial to the Council's own architectural team."
"The use of off-site construction gave us certainty of completion on time despite the challenging programme for the whole campus, and it allowed us to take this building off the critical path. It reduced time on site and disruption, allowing the adjacent sports centre to remain fully operational throughout the construction programme and ensuring the safety of the general public. We would have no hesitation in recommending the approach, and Yorkon, to other schools and local authorities." 
Tony Clohesy, Project Manager, Clugston Construction:
"This contract went very well, and Yorkon and Clugston had an excellent working relationship. Yorkon took responsibility for the construction of this building, which reduced our management time, and allowed us to focus on the other elements of this major school redevelopment."
"I am pleased to report we delivered it on time and on budget, and we would definitely use off-site construction, and Yorkon, again."
