Saint Paul's Secondary School

The school is designed to sit within the logic of its landscape setting. It is approached obliquely from the side, addressing a sweeping curve of pasture. A courtyard plan was adopted, with its many associations with teaching and learning. The courtyard also creates a focal point to the school, an enclosed ‘place’ in an otherwise open landscape. The plan is arranged in a ‘C’ shape, with classroom blocks opening at the corners and ends, creating social spaces. Top-lit corridors punctuate the interior, providing light and structural clarity.

The courtyard typology creates a dynamic exchange between the circumstances of the site and a typology for a modern educational institution. The school is accessed through an opening in the north wall of the courtyard. The arrival sequence is choreographed through compression and release; the courtyard entrance is bounded on one edge by the gym, while a curved inflection on the opposite façade draws the visitor in. This moment of compression opens into a generous courtyard defined by the surrounding mass of architecture. A gentle slope in the topography leads towards an entrance colonnade, mediating between exterior and interior. Entrance into a single storey reception creates a moment of compression before leading into the heart of the plan, the general purpose hall. The building programme is arranged around the perimeter of the courtyard, with classrooms along either side of a central corridor. These corridors open to the exterior at each end, creating connections to the landscape.

The structure of the school is a concrete frame with blockwork infil. This structure is used to define the organisational logic of the building, by setting out the rhythm of the roof lanterns. A restrained, robust and economic palette of materials is used, typically white roughcast render (similar to Moore Abbey House). In contrast, at the entrance is the school clock, made with blue brick and gilded digits, designed to reinforce the public nature of the building. In each of the three wings, tiles of differing colours are used under the lanterns at the classroom entrances. This use of colour enhances the legibility of the plan. In the SEN unit, softer, earthy tones are used in the flooring to promote a calming atmosphere. Ventilation is simply provided with opening windows in the classrooms. Cross ventilation is provided by the lanterns in the corridors. The school is constructed to Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standards, with high levels of insulation and airtightness.