Kingdown School
Located in the Wiltshire town of Warminster, Kingdown School is a mixed secondary school with post 16 provision for pupils aged 11-18. Footprint Architects were commissioned to develop a scheme to expand the school after Wiltshire Council identified that an additional 300 pupil places were required.
Sustainability
The project aims to become Warminster’s first Net Zero secondary school building.
Rethinking a Constrained School Site
The greatest challenge for our architects was locating a building of the necessary size on an already fully developed school site. After working closely with the school it was clear that their current outdoor sports facilities weren’t able to offer the varied and diverse sports curriculum desired.
Our architects came up with a proposal to redevelop an unused part of the sports field, by creating a state of the art fitness and wellbeing centre, that could also accommodate the additional teaching classrooms required. This meant that overall the school gained classrooms and sports facilities, plus we also managed to find a piece of land on the site to relocate the long jump.
The new secondary school building at Kingdown received planning permission in 2024 and is due to be built in 2025.
Creating a Net Zero Carbon School
Designing a sustainable, low energy secondary school that can benefit many future generations of students and targeting Net Zero Carbon in Operation was key priority from the outset. Our education architects began by thinking carefully about the orientation of the new secondary school building, taking advantage of views across the playing fields, whilst maintaining privacy to the nearby houses. This also enabled the team to maximise the benefits of passive environmental design and ensure that classrooms are well ventilated, don’t overheat and aren’t subjected to glare.
The new school building will be wrapped in high levels of breathable, non-combustible insulation, creating a warm and safe environment for young people to learn in, whilst reducing heating demand and operational carbon. Meanwhile specially coloured roofing membranes reduce the solar absorption in the summer, lowering the urban heating effect and improving the efficiency of roof mounted plant and solar panels.
The structure for the new school building has been designed with a clever mix of a glulam timber, steel and a lightweight steel framed system SFS. This keeps the weight of the building down, reducing the amount of concrete needed in the foundations and lowering the embodied carbon.
People & Communities
As part of the development of the design, we ran a community engagement session, inviting parents and locals from the area to come and have their say on the proposals for their new secondary school building. We created a school building that encourages students to explore the outdoors between lessons, lifting mood and enhancing cognitive function.
Putting the Health & Wellbeing of Students First
Since the pandemic the mental health of young people in England has suffered significantly. Our education architects and the school wanted to design a scheme that put the health and wellbeing of the students first.
We started by rethinking how students move around the building. By removing internal corridors and replacing them with external walkways we created a school building that encourages students to explore the outdoors between lessons, lifting mood and enhancing cognitive function. Viewpoints along the walkway offer the chance for students to watch their peers take part in football or tennis matches on the adjacent courts. Not only does this improve mood and wellbeing, but saves the cost of building walls, plastering, decorating required in a standard school corridor.
Classrooms feature high, vaulted ceilings with large roof lights to provide diffused north light and absorb stale air, making them feel bright and airy to improve concentration.
Context and Place
Looking for new opportunities in the school curriculum enabled our architects to unlock this constrained secondary school site. By redeveloping an unused part of the sports field, by creating a state of the art fitness and wellbeing centre, that could also accommodate the additional teaching classrooms required.
Relevant Projects
Award winning entrance pavilion & expansion of a grade II listed victorian school
A vibrant Post 16 centre that promotes independence for young people with autism spectrum disorder ASD
Get Your Project Off The Ground
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