SCALA Civic Building of the Year Competition, 2008

Highly Commended

Telford & Wrekin Council
Short Wood Primary School

This 2,344m2 school with 16 class bases and a 32 place nursery amalgamates a junior and an infant School on a new site and includes community facilities for use outside school hours.

It is predominantly a single-storey, framed structure, designed to wrap around the edge of a pre-existing pool. In order to minimise construction works and the import of new construction materials, it incorporates a number of the original buildings on the site. The new building is linked to the original structures via an enclosed, unheated, glass walkway, providing a secure, enclosed environment and a unified site.

It is designed to produce a third of the UK primary school average of 51kg CO2 per m2 and, where possible, construction techniques achieving a BREEAM green guide ‘A’ rating have been used.

A new woodland area will be planted over several years by pupils and staff to increase the diversity of tree species within the school grounds and encourage wildlife and birds. The pond is being restored to a diverse aquatic habitat, with marginal, floating and submerged plants and incorporates a pond dipping platform to extend educational opportunities.

Architect, Quantity Surveyor, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Landscape Architect:

Telford & Wrekin Council, Architects, Landscape and Building

Structural Engineer:

Jacobs Babtie

Main Contractor:

Thomas Vale