Hillside Special School - Plymouth

Gale & Snowden have designed a unique, quality exemplar BESD new School for the Special School at hillside, Plymouth. It is the first school new building in the Country to specifically address special needs requirements.

Whilst the site positioning, building layout, built form and appearance seem simple, the design strategies, curriculum integration and functional flexibility are inherently sophisticated.

The elegant integrated design solution is a result of rigorous and intelligent employment of low energy passive design strategies combined with addressing the complex special educational and social requirements of the school.

The building has also been designed to be both healthy for the occupants and for the environment.

The key features of the design are:

·         The ease of use and management of the building by simple clear zoning and division of the building layout to allow both school and community use.

·         Simple layout with an ‘internal street’ to provide ease of use / orientation and ease of unobtrusive ‘passive’ surveillance

·         The quality and variety of  outside spaces and their direct connection / integration with the educational and social internal areas

·         An efficient compact layout maximising available floor area for functional educational and social spaces

·         The building and landscape act together as educational tools

·         All main habitable rooms including  all classrooms are 100% day lit

·         The building is naturally ventilated

·         The building has minimum energy demands

·         ‘Best Practice’ healthy building design has been achieved

·         Energy required is derived from renewable sources, on site with potential for Carbon Neutral or energy positive solutions

·         Robust and low maintenance materials and design

·         Integrated monitoring of building

Gale & Snowden Architects won this prestigious project for a Design & Build Contractor through a design competition with stiff opposition from other Contractor teams. The project was won by the practical but innovative cost efficient design solution that the designers and contractors presented to the client.