THE team responsible for one of the North East’s most impressive school building projects has picked up one of the industry’s most prestigious awards.
London-based Devereux Architects, which has an office in Newcastle and Teesside, and international construction management firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has a site in Newcastle, has won the National Constructing Excellence value award for the building of Monkseaton High School.
With its unusual triangular classrooms and open learning areas, the school, which has nearly 1,000 pupils aged between 13 and 19 and was opened in November 2009, has secured a clutch of accolades for the quality and innovation of its design.
To develop the award-winning design, Devereux Architects and Parsons Brinckerhoff, worked closely with the existing school management team to plan and deliver a sustainable, welcoming environment for the school.
Turning the designs into reality required complicated planning by Parsons Brinckerhoff, with the company also responsible for many of the building’s interior design features, which helped to improve its acoustics, lighting and heating.
Earlier in the year, the school was awarded educational facility of the year in the Building Excellence Awards by the UK Local Authority Building Control body.
It was also highly commended in the Engineering Excellence Awards 2010 by the Association of Consulting Engineers and was singled out in the regional Constructing Excellence Awards for both the value award and the project of the year awards.
Ian Lancastle-Smith, director of Devereux Architects and designer of the school, said: “Throughout this project, we had the students and teachers’ best interests at heart and we wanted to deliver an environment that would improve the conditions for effective teaching and learning.
“We believe that good design doesn’t have to cost the earth and we’ve delivered a cost-effective solution that is innovative and visionary.”
Another feature of the school is its adaptability, with its communal areas such as libraries, independent learning areas, entrances and meeting areas all open-plan and classroom walls that can be moved to change and create new spaces.
The school even has a ventilation system that improves fresh air circulation and is designed to boost attention levels. The school also boasts outdoor learning facilities and an all- weather sports pitch.
Grahame Kelly, Northern region director of building design for Parsons Brinckerhoff, said: “To start with such a visionary design concept from Devereux Architects was truly inspiring for the whole project team.
“Using cutting-edge technology developed across all disciplines, the team created a new evolution for a school building. Not only does the building work operationally and functionally for the teachers and pupils, but through the use of state-of-the-art technologically and innovative structural and architectural design it achieved a cost reduction of around 20%.”