Helsby High School

Provision of a new Learning Resource Centre, developed to fulfil the school’s need for two dedicated teaching spaces large enough to each allow two classes to be taught simultaneously, an IT suite for sixty computers as a resource for structured lessons and pupils working individually and two offices, plus ancillary accommodation. The scheme has been designed using the environmental guidelines set out in Building Bulletin 87.

Sited at the heart of the school, overlooking playing fields and enclosing a courtyard, where pupils can gather during breaks, the new building will be easily accessible by all. The location was determined through analysis of the accommodation and circulation routes of the existing school buildings and by the services which it will provide.  Discretely located on the north side of the main school buildings, any effect on neighbours is minimised. Its central location creates new circulation routes and promotes the possibility of future development.

Both the existing buildings and the requirement to optimise natural ventilation and daylight to reduce if not eliminate the use of mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting, determined the form of the new building. High-level windows provide even light reducing glare on the computers, and combined with the shape of the roof create a stack effect to promote natural ventilation. In addition, high thermal mass, deep roof overhangs and external shading devices will moderate excessive summertime overheating.