Kingsmead School

This was a hugely successful collaboration between Integral, Willmott Dixon and White Design to create a new primary school in Cheshire. Kingsmead School is over-subscribed by both pupils who want to go there, and staff who want to work there. The “green” ethos doesn’t stop at the school gates – it runs right through from curriculum work to healthy eating and travel choices.

The engineering challenges
To get a buildable and environmentally efficient solution out of the ground as quickly and economically as possible, while also creating a beautiful school building.

The solutions
Back-to-back portal frames in glulam timber provided a beautiful stable structural section which was economically extruded around the building. This created an instant roof allowing room subdivisions to be built under shelter and future design flexibility over how the teaching spaces are arranged. Using timber frames allowed us to run structure from inside to outside with minimal cold bridging. This solution not only has low embodied energy but a wonderful tactile attractiveness so that people actually stroke the columns! The project was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Better Public Buildings Award in 2005 and set a new standard in environmental design for schools.

Client Cheshire County Council
Architect White Design
M&E Engineer Arup
Contractor Willmott Dixon