All Saints new primary school

Education

All Saint’s Church of England Primary School, Peterborough.

‘Loving to learn, learning to love’ is the motto for the school, whose vision we incorporated into our brief, to double pupil capacity from a 210 place junior school to a 420 place primary school, maintaining the school’s existing faith school environment.

Won at competition against five other practices, the challenge was to design a building that occupied as little ground area as possible, to enable the existing junior school to operate fully, during the new build, only two metres away from the new site. The existing school was eventually demolished to enable the landscaping to be completed. The result is a two-storey, 14 classroom building, with inward-facing courtyards that open out from the main circulation spaces. The design is centred around three landscaped courtyards, each one innovatively themed, to enable contemplative pupil spaces and fluid internal-external teaching areas. Internal finishes include fair-faced brickwork and exposed structures, in order to maximise the feeling of light and airiness to the classrooms and corridor spaces.

The school hall is designed as a stand-alone structure for use by the external community.

The construction was split into three phases to enable the existing school to function without the hindrance of construction work. They were: Enabling works and MUGA; School hall as two temporary classrooms; New 420 place primary school.

The suburban setting is offset by a sensitive sensory garden with a natural, wild meadow planting scheme for nature study and outdoor learning. A sculpted grass bank amphitheatre leads out from the school hall, for outdoor productions and plays. Built with gabion cages using bricks reclaimed from the existing junior school, this gives the new design a sense of history with the original site.

• 25,000 sq/ ft, new two-storey, 2 form entry primary school
• Community/ school hall
• 14 classrooms, Drama and Music Studio, Group Rooms, Admin Areas
• External 1st floor terraces and courtyards
• Outdoor amphitheatre
• Sensory garden
• Low energy and highly insulated
• Solar PV Cells
• Natural ventilation
• Automated window-master system
• Sedum roofs
• Solar shading brises soleil
• SUDS drainage
• Value: £6.2 Million

Role: Architects and Contract Administrator

 ‘Thank you GTA for all your help over the last few years in designing and constructing our innovative new school. Andrew, the architect, has been instrumental in creating a bright and attractive learning environment that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional.

We have been grateful to all the team for their commitment to working alongside us and listening to our ideas and incorporating them in the build.

On our Opening day in June a year 6 child on meeting Andrew was over-heard saying to him “you must be very proud of our new school and what you have achieved,” which perfectly sums up the staff, and governors own thoughts.’ Rachael Hutchinson, Headteacher