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Location: Hertfordshire
Client: Hertfordshire Schools Building Partnership
Value: £91m
Hertfordshire Schools Building Partnership
Working as part of the Hertfordshire Schools Building Partnership, ArchitecturePLB has designed and delivered 15 schools projects for Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) since 2010. The schemes include 8 primary school expansions, 2 new-build primary schools, two new all-through schools created by adding a primary phase to an existing secondary, a new secondary school created by combining two existing schools and a co-location comprising a new secondary and new residential special school.
Each of these projects has required us to take a strategic overview of the site, the majority involving new buildings on an existing campus. In each case ArchitecturePLB worked closely with HCC, the school and the Local Planning Authority to understand its particular opportunities and constraints. Following initial site evaluation we then developed alternative options to facilitate discussions, leading to a shared and agreed masterplan for additional development.
ArchitecturePLB worked carefully to develop options for new development that not only met the concerns of the Local Planning Authority but took an intelligent approach in seeking a solution that added value for each school as well as the briefed facilities. Such added value might be an improvement in the wider functionality of the site or using the new buildings to improve the appearance of the school as a whole. For example, at Samuel Ryder All-through Academy in St Albans, the location and arrangement of the new primary phase allowed us to transform the school’s visual presence, creating a new arrival area and a strong new identity in the community. The project was awarded the Civic Society Award for design in 2014.
Similarly for the all through schools ArchitecturePLB worked with the school senior leadership teams from the outset to develop the brief for the primary school facilities, working though the detail of key issues such as which existing facilities could be shared by primary and secondary and which should be unique to the primary pupils.
The design of a large number of projects over a number of years has allowed us to work with Hertfordshire County Council to develop standardised cost effective layouts and construction methods that can be rolled out across all projects. This has been particularly beneficial for the primary school extensions where the process and design have been streamlined each time through post completion reviews.
As each site and school is different, with varied contexts including adjacent listed buildings, the standardised approach has been successfully designed to provide sufficient flexibility to adapt to individual settings and needs.
Project Team
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