Fulwood Academy

Lancashire

Designed by Bovis Lend Lease.

Overall design quality rating: poor

Comments:

This proposal for a new school specialising in arts and digital media fails to resolve the organisation of the house bases around a central learning plaza. The following fundamental problems result in an unsuccessful school design:

• The position of the car parking prevents a clear connection between the school and shared community sports facilities. The external spaces do not provide site wide learning opportunities nor address the current site challenges such as the water-logged pitches. The outside learning areas at the ends of the house bases lack detail to demonstrate meaningful areas for socialising and learning; their generic design does not respond to the wings’ orientation on the site or specific learning requirements. These areas face north and the narrow proportions may result in windy, unpleasant spaces for much of the year.
• The school misses the opportunity to establish a positive presence onto Black Bull Lane. The massing of the buildings and bland entrance plaza does not create a pleasant approach. The courtyards between the house bases are constrained, limiting the quantity of natural light in the adjacent classrooms. While the elevations have been simplified, they remain fragmented. The render unifies the upper levels but the extensive use of dark brick at the base is austere. The rationalised geometry results in a deeper plan and exacerbates the poor ground floor teaching spaces in the learning plaza.
• The ‘learning plaza’ is critical to the success of the building. However, it remains problematic, and fails to deliver an uplifting environment at the heart of the school. This deep plan space is dominated by the unresolved roof structure and lacks sufficient fenestration to facilitate natural ventilation. Further attention should be given to the connection of the wings to the learning plaza to enable views to the outdoor learning spaces and to enable the houses to establish an identity in this space.
• The open plan design of the resources centre lacks enclosure and may be noisy due to the use of the adjacent spaces. There are many internal rooms and tight corners, which will inhibit passive supervision. The location of the remote dining space is unclear with poor links to the external dining terrace. The house reduced natural light on the upper floors of the house bases is concerning and the lack of flexibility to accommodate a variety of teaching styles.
• The environmental strategies are generic and do not address sustainability across the site. The current design suggests that running the school will be expensive and heavily reliant on environmental controls. A fresh design is needed which will clearly demonstrate how energy efficient ventilation and natural lighting will be achieved to effectively deliver a practical and comfortable learning environment.

Download the full report.