Holy Cross RC Primary School Refurbishment

The school is re-arranged so that the classrooms can work in pairs by year groups, and have direct links to outdoor play and learning areas, for through-flow of learning from inside to outside in Early Years areas. Small group rooms and open learning areas are added adjacent to or near to each year group to allow for other learning activities outside of classrooms.

The new hall is in the heart of the school, in the location of the existing hall. The height and profile has been arranged to provide as little impact as possible to the resident’s views and is of a similar scale to the existing hall. It provides a bigger floor area with underfloor heating, increased daylight and improved ventilation.

Where the two new classrooms meet the 19^thCentury buildings, rooflights and windows help to reveal the qualities of the existing buildings.

Brickwork is used in the new classrooms and offices so that the material will weather sympathetically with the minimum of maintenance, and blend with the appearance of the existing building bricks in the long term. The external roof and wall element of the hall is clad in dark grey standing seam zinc, to give pattern to the surface and tone to blend with the nearby original slate roofs on the adjacent terraced housing.

Thermal modelling was used to develop a natural ventilation strategy for the new hall and both the new and existing classrooms. Openable rooflights and roof vents are linked to a new BMS system, while also using a cement board ceiling and screed floor to improve thermal mass and night time cooling to the hall.