Haute Vallee school

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Educational objectives
• to create a strong sense of identity for the School as a whole and also for the individual areas within the School
• to enable the pupils to develop a sense of ownership for the School and to orientate themselves easily within the complex
• to create a sense of territory for the pastoral spaces
• to create forms and structures which were appropriate to the particular activities in each building
• to provide a strong relationship between inside and outside spaces, exploiting the potential School grounds as a teaching resource and allowing the distant views of the coastline to be enjoyed
• to have the potential for the school to be monitored and used by the pupils as a working environmental laboratory, monitoring temperatures and employing shading devices to monitor effects
• foster links between the community and the school, to increase awareness of the wider social context in the pupils and maximise the wider teaching potential of the school facilities.

Design Concept

The overriding principle was to create a School as a community along the lines of a small village; the individual buildings are grouped around a variety of external spaces with different views unfolding as one walks around the complex.
• External spaces were conceived as external rooms, in a range of sizes that could be capable of teaching use for small groups up to whole school assemblies. These also foster social development in informal gatherings during play periods.
• Subject areas were expressed as different building forms, under a uniform language of materials, to increase legibility and denote different areas of the school campus.
• The complex as a whole was built into the natural slope of the site so as to minimise the impact of the buildings both to close neighbours and to longer views from a distance.
• General teaching rooms were grouped together in the ‘cluster block’ to allow flexibility between subject areas. Resource areas off in all main blocks allow break out groups during teaching periods.
• Extensive sport and drama facilities are grouped close together to facilitate their management for out of hours use.

environmental objectives

The client recognised the potential of the building both as a means of increasing pupils’ awareness of environmental issues and demonstrating that a reduction on energy use and carbon dioxide emissions could be achieved within normal building budgets. The principal objectives were:
• to provide a high level of thermal mass in order to even out the temperature peaks and troughs.
• to shade windows from by direct sunlight by using roof overhangs, strategically placed and external blinds.
• to save energy by reducing the need for artificial lighting. Many rooms use high level north light to illuminate, whilst maintaining views out through smaller eye-level windows
• to maintain comfortable temperatures in the Summer avoiding the need for mechanical ventilation. The positions and sizes of ventilation openings and ‘chimney stacks’ were determined by a specialist consultant modelling the internal air flow on a computer.

Educator Narrative

The design of this secondary school embraces the complex interlocking of the curricular, pastoral and social requirements of a school and carries these off with considerable vitality and skill.

The design of the building itself reflects a strong educational idea of the ”school as a village” concept. The component parts forming the basis of this idea embrace a strong community presence in juxtaposition with an outstanding educational facility.

The distinctive group of buildings provides accommodation for 750 students with an educational approach based upon the local curriculum. The design project itself was won in a selective competition.

The campus offers a range of buildings with a rich diversity of forms. Much of the general teaching is located in a north facing two storey curved “cluster” building which overlooks an outdoor street. Enclosing the street is a centre for administration, senior students and library which includes extensive use of computers and this is reflected elsewhere in the school. Science is accommodated in a separate building and has seven laboratories which allow for the separate study of practical and academic work and one large central preparation area. The natural lighting gives a glare free even light very conducive to the teaching of science, art and technology which are all close by. Similarly the technology centre introduces a wide variety of interest and skills from CAD/CAM, robotics, extensive use of computers, graphics, electronics, design, food technology and textiles. These components fuse the design, making and functionality of practical aspects of education in one hugely stimulating environment.

The theatre and adjacent dining blocks form one side of a small school square backing on to central administration. The theatre seats an audience of over 350 and provides a rich and intimate teaching environment at the centre of the school. Finally, the sports hall and swimming pool form a complex highly used by both the school and the local community.

The campus plays an important part in the community with the theatre, sports hall, pool and library areas being available for local use. Closely grouped around the school square, they reflect a strong sense of local participation in the life of the school.

The strength of the design stems from the extensive consultation between the architects practice, school representatives and local residents during the early planning phases. Exhibitions, regular meetings with all local interest groups and the school ensured that the resultant design reflected both community and school needs with sensitivity, imagination and attention to detail. This, in turn, is appreciated by both staff and students and gives the individual a scale and sense of identity, an ingredient often lacking in recent school design.

A rich variety of external space enhances the educational opportunities and this is becoming increasingly valued.

The buildings enrich and enhance the life of the individual student, support school life in all its variety and strongly express the values and ethos of the school as a community.