City of London Academy scoops Prime Minister's Award

A comprehensive school in Bermondsey has beaten off strong competition to win the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award for 2006.

A comprehensive school in Bermondsey has beaten off strong competition from 13 other shortlisted schemes to clinch the prestigious Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award for 2006.

The City of London Academy was named as this year's winner at a ceremony in central London last night, October 26th. The award recognises excellence in both the design quality and procurement practice of publicly funded building schemes.

Designed by Studio E architects, the school has a light and airy atrium at its heart, providing daylight and natural ventilation. This also acts as a dramatic entrance and social hub for the school. The project includes facilities for community use.

The academy has proved hugely popular since it was opened by the Prime Minister in September 2005, with 1,370 pupils applying for 180 places last year. The City of London Corporation, which sponsored the academy, is so pleased at the outcome that it has agreed to co-sponsor two more academies, in Hackney and Islington, and will use the same broad principles to procure and build them.

The win comes after CABE's schools audit in July, which assessed the design quality of school buildings completed over the last five years. The academies included in the audit were considerably better than other schools - all were ranked partially good, good or excellent. And earlier this month, Mossbourne Academy in Hackney - shortlisted for last year's Prime Minister's Award - was described as 'outstanding' by OFSTED.

John Sorrell, chair of CABE, said:

'It is interesting that academies appear to enjoy considerably better design than other schools. The key difference appears to be not just cost but the extra time for design and consultation in the early stages of the project.'