Sixth Form Centre, Langley Grammar School
Langley, Berkshire
New Build
The brief from the Governing Body of Langley Grammar School was for a new Sixth Form Centre collegiate building that would provide an aspirational goal for pupils to reach, in addition to providing a ‘stepping stone’ to the expectations of higher education. The building will accommodate a 200 Seat Lecture Theatre, sixth form teaching spaces, music practice rooms and staff offices.
The proposed new Sixth Form Centre is located within the curtilage of the existing school buildings at the rear of the school site with the splayed walls of the lecture theatre creating a communal gathering space for pupils and teachers to use during break times. The 4 components of the sixth form centre, the teaching area, the circulation zone, music rooms/offices and the lecture theatre are articulated by using separate building elements defined by finish, mass and plan form.
All accommodation will be accessed from a full height, two storey glazed atrium, forming an internal street, which at the school elevation will form the entrance to the building. This internal street is the hub of the new Sixth Form Centre and will form the heart of the building where all circulation takes place, a place for exhibitions of student work and where sixth formers can meet between classes. The fully glazed roof will maximise natural light to the atrium and the rooms directly off it, and the use of opening roof lights and vertical glazing will allow natural ventilation to cool the atrium. The atrium is built against a full height spine wall, which will project beyond the entrance doors to denote the main entrance and wrap the circulation/fire escape stair at the rear this will also act and as a solar shading device for the atrium.
In line with the schools brief for an aspirational collegiate type building, the choice of materials and elevation treatments reflect contemporary architecture but still are practical and economical for use on a school site. The elevations are constructed from three elements. Masonry walls are constructed of a buff coloured facing block, which has been used to construct recent teaching and sports buildings on the site. The curved wall to the field elevation will be constructed using a horizontally laid aluminium cladding which will give a contemporary finish articulating the only curved element on the school site. Glazing elements used in a variety of shapes and sizes to break up the mass masonry and maximise natural light in the building will be set deep within the masonry and cladding elements to maximise the thickness of the solid elements and offering protection against solar gain. The spine wall will be finished in render to produce an impression of solidity and permanence to reinforce its role as the sixth form centre’s visual spine.
The proposed new Sixth Form Centre is designed to operate efficiently during its lifetime and will incorporate a number of sustainable solutions to minimise school operation and maintenance costs.
- Natural Light
- Natural Ventilation
- Rainwater Harvesting
- Thermal Mass |
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