Personalised learning facility & Performing Arts Centre
John Cabot Academy

The Ridge design team has worked closely with the School, staff and students, in developing the brief to facilitate the change from CTC to Academy status.

This included:

• A new building to facilitate Year 7 “learning to learn curriculum” to include a dance and drama studio and a fitness area
• Design/refurbish an existing digital media and arts suite, refurbishing the technology department
• Extend the existing library to provide an up-to-date learning resource centre and increase provision for Special Educational Needs
• Up-grade the changing facilities in the main sports hall
• Enhance the main entrance foyer area. 

A value management process was adopted to arrive at a costed priority-of-works, to ensure value for money for the client. The main part of the project is a new building, which is designed to enhance the existing award winning school.

The new building is sensitively placed in the landscape, is clad in Siberian Larch and heated using ground-source heat pumps. It has a sedum grass roof and is naturally ventilated. All ventilation is controlled by the Building Management System. During the summer months, areas with higher heat gains such as the dance studio, fitness suite and IT room, are cooled using the ground water loop of the heat pump.

By the nature of activities within the building, water consumption is low however, PIR detectors within the WC areas detect when there is nobody present to shut off the water supply to the entire room.

We have used BREEAM accreditation to score the building and have used it as a working guide for construction and specification. The contractors were required to sort waste, be accredited with the ‘Considerate Contractors’ scheme, source materials locally, use FSC approved timber, and retain spoil on site. The specification has been carefully written to include low carbon materials, recycled materials and those that are ethically sourced.