Schools

• The Liverpool Blue Coat School
• Tower Hamlets BSF, London
• Upton Hall School, Wirral
• Fleetwood High School, Lancashire

Special Schools

• The Castle School, Berkshire
• National Star College
• Royal School for the Blind, Liverpool
• Middletown School, Ireland

Sixth Form

• Gateway Sixth Form College, Leicester
• Varndean Sixth Form College, Brighton

The Castle School, Berkshire

This new-build post-16 facility looks to improve the accommodation at The Castle School near Newbury. The design is tailored to meet the needs of up to 30 students with various learning difficulties, including autistic spectrum disorder, and aims to maximise the spatial quality of the teaching spaces using natural daylight, the best surrounding views and protection from sources of noise.

The solution creates a sense of place in the way in which the building forms a space. For example, the inclusion of a courtyard that can be viewed from right around the building. The success of the design is in its simplicity and the engagement of the building with the site.

The site is situated alongside the existing site of Newbury College and the land surrounding it. It is hoped that being located within the grounds of the mainstream college, it will assist the pupils of Castle School in continuing onto Further Education.

The new school building also aims to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ through the specification of material with low embodied energy and the use of natural ventilation. The plan has been created to capture and utilise natural resources, such as the wind in the east/west cross-ventilation and the use of daylight suited to the classrooms.