A new building located on the upper part of the site helps unify the teaching spaces and for the first time make them all DDA accessible.  Partially embedded in the sloping ground, and partly suspended over it, the new building forms a gateway onto the upper part of the site, while providing much needed covered external play and social space for the pupils.

The new building also provides a new heart and social space for the school through a new double-height hall and dining space, linked by sliding/folding partitions.  These open onto the newly landscaped external spaces.  The arrangement of the teaching spaces reflect Birmingham City Council’s approach to transformational learning, through the provision of classroom clusters planned around an open-plan learning zone.

The massing of the new building and its materiality reflect the importance of the existing Grade II listed building, itself refurbished as part of this project.  Although ranged over four storeys, the design exploits the site level changes to create a low, recessive building when seen in overall context of the site.