Historians of the British education system can learn a great deal simply by looking at the architectural history of our schools. The buildings speak volumes about the values of the education practised within them: the Victorian institution is formal, disciplined and Gothic, pointing skywards to higher things; the great public schools stand imperiously in acres of private property, a class apart; and 1960s comprehensives celebrate the democracy of mass production, a core curriculum of design ideas repeated across the land.

Today the construction of new schools is inevitably a hard-nosed commercial affair but hopefully the values of education are still something more than this. At heart, education is about learning, development and transformation and it is these values that bring life to the design and construction of new schools. Schools must be built on time and on budget but they can also be exciting, innovative and forward-looking buildings. The education sector has more than its fair share of progressive clients.

One such client is Shropshire County Council. Having achieved Beacon status for its work on sustainable energy, the council set its expectations high when faced with the task of bringing together two primary schools in a brand new building. Sustainability was a high priority but so were speed of construction, cost and building performance. To meet this specification, the council turned to Framework CDM, Building Magazine’s off-site specialist of the year 2006.

Framework Construction Design and Management prides itself in staying one step ahead of the construction industry’s slow tango into the 21st century. At the time of the Egan review and the launch of modern methods of construction, the new company was already developing a detailed approach to off-site construction that would meet the needs of demanding clients, especially in the public sector. It had learnt that the potential for highly standardised volumetric design was limited. What was needed, it believed, was a flexible approach that would suit bespoke projects without paying the traditional cost penalty.

The school is clad in British heartwood larch

The system must fit the architecture, not the other way round. Beginning with this principle, Framework developed an holistic approach to off-site prefabrication which involves company and client participation throughout the design and construction process. The system it has developed is based on pre-engineered, semi-volumetric, timber panels. The success of this system, however, is in large part due to its place within a broad partnering approach between contractor and client. Architectural and engineering skills have been part of Framework’s skill base from the outset and this has set it in good stead for the challenges of contemporary construction, particularly in the education sector. The construction of the new Bicton Primary School started on site in October 2006 and 28 weeks later the 1,400m2 school was complete and ready for occupation. The erection of the primary sealed structure took only three-and-a-half weeks following a four-week manufacturing schedule off-site.

All floor, wall and roof cassettes were delivered to site ready for immediate deployment in the structure. Rain pushed back the final completion of the building, every detail of which remained the responsibility of Framework CDM, but the pupils are now in and the headmaster is reportedly delighted. Framework CDM partnered with architects Sjölander da Cruz to create a light-filled, comfortable, low energy building that has a gentle impact on the landscape thanks to its low, undulating form and external cladding details in British heartwood larch. The building design integrates internal and external spaces, not least in the ‘street’ running through the centre of the building which is flooded with natural light from the clerestories above. A far cry from the Victorian institution, this school building seems to embody the values of humanity and illumination.

The erection of the primary sealed structure took only three-and-a-half weeks

The building also expresses a commitment to the future, not only in the welcome it gives its pupils but also in its high environmental specification. As sustainability has always been at the core of Framework CDM’s approach, this part of the specification for Bicton School presented no problems for the company. The great majority of the building materials used in the construction have low embodied energy and are designed to be recyclable. Most of the timber has Forest Stewardship Council chain of custody, though some is sourced from UK woodlands where certification may not always be in place but direct engagement with the supplier ensures good practice. The building is heated through low temperature (and therefore more efficient) underfloor heating, driven by a ground source heat pump.

The break and peak in the roof line facilitates strategies for daylight and natural ventilation. Overall, the target for the building was a BREEAM score of Excellent but the construction in a greenfield site brought this down to Very Good. Buildings stand a decent chance of succeeding if they emerge from a balanced interaction of professionals, client and users. Framework CDM’s model made this possible at Bicton, where close professional collaboration complemented strong relationships with the Council and local parents. These relationships were particularly important in allaying anxieties based on outdated perceptions of the quality of the product. Many of the parents of the young users of the new school had themselves experienced prefabricated education and did not cherish the memory. It was therefore important to fully explain the transformation of the prefabrication industry from the days of draughty concrete to the modern world of warm, high-performance timber.

Bicton Primary School is an exemplar of modern methods of construction. Framework CDM has found a way of making Egan principles work for designers as well as specifiers, for clients as well as accountants. Having made its name in education, the company is now working with a much wider range of interests including the SS Great Britain and the British Antarctic Survey. If the British education system is supposed to give its users the confidence to flourish in a challenging world, it has scored a success with Framework CDM, which is poised to take its rigorous, design-focused product to the very ends of the Earth.

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