Special Needs Classroom

A local special needs school needed to replace three seriously dilapidated and undersized porta -cabin classrooms with a permanent solution. The classrooms would use structural insulated panel (SIP) system of construction, designed to be fully accessible and able to be run autonomously from the rest of the school, as well as provide a link to the adjacent allotment garden. Facilities would include for the teaching of science and home economics while addressing the special requirements of the children and teachers.

Sustainability was the focus of this project, producing a scheme that would maximise energy efficiency during use and keep heating costs to a minimum. Options for renewable technologies such as solar thermal or photovoltaic panels, air source heat pumps and rainwater recycling were also offered as part of the integral design, or to be added at a later date when further funds became available.

Untreated cedar cladding would be used for the majority of the facade with a living ‘green wall’  on one side becoming an extension to the allotment garden.