SCALA Civic Building of the Year Competition, 2004
Highly Commended
Norfolk County Council: Norfolk
Loddon High School, ‘Classroom of the Future’
Loddon is a small country town 10 miles south of Norwich. The High School attracts about 600 pupils and its buildings date from the 1950s on a large attractive town centre site.
The new building is detached but close to the main school, convenient for both pupil and separate community access, both daytime and evenings. The entrance is a glass pavilion - a focal attraction and a space for receptions and exhibitions. The classrooms provide large, naturally lit sub-divisible spaces, with transparent divides, and raking ceilings facilitating good natural cross ventilation.
The construction incorporates as many innovative ‘sustainable’ ideas as were appropriate for a building of this size. Off site prefabrication is exploited with masonite wall and roof cassettes of super-insulated ‘breathing’ panels clad in a cedar slatted rainscreen and incorporating recycled newspaper insulation. U Values of 0.13 and 0.12 are achieved.
The pitched roof sheeting is mill finish aluminium. A flat ‘green’ sedum mat roof reduces overlooking visual impact to a neighbouring property. Various water saving devices include a rainwater harvesting and recycling system.
Consultants: NPS Property Consultants Ltd
Project Manager: Andrew Rayfield
Architect: Mark Kenney
Quantity Surveyor: Steven Woodcock
Mechanical Engineer: Shaun Gregory
Electrical Engineer: Andrew Holmes
Contractor: R G Carter (Drayton) Ltd with Carter Design Group
