St Lukes Church of England School - Blakenhall, Wolverhampton

Architype’s St Luke’s CE primary school has been awarded a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’, making it the only, and therefore first, of its kind in Britain. The trailblazing, all-timber, highly sustainable primary school, built by contractor Thomas Vale Construction, is a flagship project for Wolverhampton.

Intello Plus, Intelligent airtight vapour check was used throughout the project and sealed using pro clima’s tapes within a pre-fabricated panel, designed and constructed by New World Timber Frame in Essex, see New World Website

The £6.0 million new school building for 420 children is located at the heart of the regeneration of Blakenhall, an inner city area close to Wolverhampton centre where sustainable timber buildings are rare.

Demonstrating Architype’s eco-minimalist approach, the form and section of the building reduces energy consumption by maximising natural daylighting, as well as using a passive ventilation system and carefully controlling solar gain. The large canopy running along south facing classrooms provides extended teaching space as well as welcome shade from summer sun. Every classroom is cross-ventilated with a combination of manual low level windows and automatic clerestorey windows linked to the building management system. North-facing clerestorey windows introduce additional daylight without glare to classrooms and large open-plan spaces. The underfloor heating is powered by a biomass woodchip boiler.

This ground-breaking project benefits not only the environment but also the school children and staff. Jonathan Hines, Director of Architype says: “We believe that schools which benefit the environment also benefit children’s health and well being, and improve their performance in the classroom.”

In order to achieve the BREEAM credits required, particular care was needed when choosing construction materials and methods. The structure selected is unusual for a school, being entirely timber framed. Pre-fabricated timber panels were used as this provided superior air-tightness for the building, thereby significantly reducing energy usage in the building.

Richard Green, Director of Thomas Vale Construction adds: “As a local contractor to work with Architype and Wolverhampton City Council, this project is an outstanding recognition of what can be achieved through working collaboratively as a team.”

Exposed laminated timber portal frames and beams were used to create the large open spaces as multi-purpose “Hubs” such as the library and main hall. The visible structure in these areas combines practicality with pleasing aesthetics and provides a softer appearance than often associated with primary structural elements. The timbers have integral fire resistance due to their size without the need for chemical treatments or coatings. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems were employed to minimise the environmental impact on local water courses and significantly reduce the risk of flooding during heavy storms.

During the whole process Architype have been conscious of not adversely impacting on the local environment and therefore designed a school that nestles harmoniously within its leafy park surroundings; its natural shingled roof makes the school more like an extension of the green space than an inner city school. The maximum number of trees was also retained during construction. For more information on please see Architype Website

Work has also started on Blakenhall Neighbourhood Centre, adjacent to St Luke’s School, again the project has been designed by Architype, with Thomas Vale undertaking the construction and New World Timber Frame supplying the frames and pre fabricated panels. Ecological’s technical team joined the team on site recently to go through their airtightness detailing, the Centre is going to be a spectacular build, so fingers crossed for a good airtightness result.