Building to achieve

In recent years school buildings across Merseyside have undergone transformations, from the construction of a multi million pound new site for Litherland High being among projects in Sefton, to the Building Schools for the Future programme funding new facilities around Knowsley.

­With further schools now earmarked to benefit from investment across Liverpool, we take a look at how students, staff and wider communities benefit from the buildings being brought into the 21st Century.

In Liverpool the city’s mayor, Joe Anderson has pledged to build 12 new “high-tech” primary and secondary schools across the city under the Liverpool Schools Investment Plan, which is expected to amount to around £170 million over six years.

The scheme has been developed as a “rescue package” after wave six of the Building School’s for the Future (BSF) programme was previously scrapped and, according to the Mayor, it will “make the most of every pound” being spent. In particular, there’s a focus on money being put back into the local economy by appointing firms from the area to work on the developments and strengthen their workforces for the scheme by creating apprenticeships.

Speaking about the plan, the Mayor has stated: “These are tough times for businesses and it is crucial that we make sure that money secured by Liverpool is spent in Liverpool.”

So far the initiative appears to be having the desired effect on local businesses, as a recent town hall event inviting companies to find out how they could bid for work on the large scale project attracted 108 firms, more than two thirds of which were from the city itself and the wider Liverpool City Region.

Meanwhile the first of the schools being built under the scheme – Notre Dame Catholic College – has been completed in time for the new academic year and details previously released by the Mayor of Liverpool say 60% of its subcontractor spending has been with companies around the city, including A&B Engineering in Old Swan which won almost £4 million in mechanical and engineering contracts.

While the council has invested the funds needed to build the new facilities, Notre Dame Catholic College’s trustees have entered into a lease scheme, which will see them paying an annual lease over the next 25 to 30 years. Similar schemes are being agreed by other schools lined up for new buildings, understands Notre Dame’s deputy headteacher, Andrew Rannard.

Discussing the benefits the new building will bring to both pupils and staff and the wider community, Andrew goes on to explain that Notre Dame was given a “fairly blank sheet” when it came to deciding how the school would be built, equipped and used, allowing it to be tailored to suit the needs of the school and the surrounding area.

“Around the college each of the departments have been heavily involved in what their areas look like, so they’ve designed it to what they think will deliver best.” he says. “A good example is with maths, where one of the rooms is built as a numeracy room which allows students to be very practical. There are sinks and units and flexible furniture for measuring, allowing them to really get to grips with numeracy rather than something that is just a set of figures, to really see the relevance and use it in a practical case.”

A theme of “supporting and developing relationships” is also said to be at the heart of the new building’s design, with open communal areas as well as spaces where staff can sit and plan together when not in lessons, and student areas in each department with access to all the relevant resources for that subject.

As the school moves from a building which has been its home since 1869, to its new modern Great Homer Street site which is expected to be used for the next 60 years at least, consideration has also been given to how the multi million pound facilities can be slotted into the wider community.

The school is not only keen to try and offer some sort of service to the local area that will soften the blow of it recently losing its local library, but Andrew adds: “At the front entrance we have a secure reception area where we’re in discussions with Job Centre Plus and places like that to run clinics to allow them to do some outreach work within the community, but that’s still ongoing.”

With all new school buildings, a main aim is inevitably to provide the highest, most up to date standard of education; for instance the website for architecture and design firm Sheppard Robson describes the design for Litherland High’s £27 million new build, which opened in February 2011, as “an innovative learning environment intended to inspire pupils, providing an environment that encourages academic excellence.” And while, as Andrew Rannard goes on to point out, the full package of “a high quality teacher in a classroom with the right resources and right relationships” is the formula that works best, schools around the region have already been recognised for the benefits their new builds have brought.

In Knowsley, Halewood Academy Centre for Learning opened in June 2009 following the closure of Halewood College on an adjacent site. It was the second centre for learning in Knowlsey to be completed under the BSF programme and, when its most recent Ofsted inspection followed in October 2010, inspectors picked up on the impact the new facilities had made.

When the school’s overall ‘good’ report was published, it stated: “The new building with its innovative design provides a high quality physical environment for learning. The visibility around the site is a key factor in ensuring that students feel extremely safe at all times. The students themselves are very proud of their new school, with comments such as ‘The building is just fantastic!’ being common.”

If such innovative designs and modern facilities can have a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes, then new school buildings may also go some way to providing staff, students and the community with a better understanding of environment and sustainability issues.
Patrick Richardson, the managing director of Concept LHP, which provides energy efficient solutions for buildings, says that while adhering to building regulations and utilising sustainable building methods goes without saying nowadays, schools should also be looking to the likes of biomass energy systems, efficient lighting and heating systems and renewable energy technologies such as solar PV and rainwater harvesting. He believes that the use of such methods can not only reduce emissions and energy bills for schools, but can influence peoples’ practices.

“Whilst it is challenging to address every aspect of the sustainability agenda when developing or regenerating a school building, project managers and architects must look to tackle certain sustainability issues by incorporating systems and technologies that are appropriate for the building, the school community and the wider community.

“The actual fabric of the building is often the first area to be looked at however it is essential that engagement with the school and wider community is undertaken so the needs of those working in and around the building are addressed. Engagement will also help with maintaining sustainability going forward as working practices will be influenced from the onset,” he says.