A new sports and IT teaching facility that blurs the visual boundaries between learning and sport. Environmentally innovative, the project sets a new vibrant image for the College campus. The building, which replaces an earlier, outdated gymnasium, provides a new multi-use sports hall, a fitness studio and a suite of IT classrooms to the established St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College in North Kensington, London.
Combining two very different disciplines, Physical Education and Information Technology, a number of technical problems were overcome by the consultant team. Sustainable design principles and low-energy consumption are integral to the design with natural light and ventilation where possible, with a ground coupled cooling system under the external games pitch. Primary building materials used are at once functional and playful, boldly expressing the principle functions of the facility. Using an innovative timber panel technology, the nine month project was delivered on time and on budget without any disruption to the normal functioning of the college.
Shortlisted BCSE Awards, Best School Extension, Refurbishment or Remodel 2010
- Client: St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College
- Value: £5.2 million
- Completion Date: May 2009
