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Bond Bryan
Bond Bryan have evolved and developed the concept design by Architecture PLB and are working – in collaboration with Mid Group – to deliver this brand new, 13,000 sqm secondary school in Hertfordshire.
At the heart of a new residential development by Chase Homes in Broxbourne, The Broxbourne School has been designed as a contextual response to its green belt setting and the School’s ambitions and aspirations for its future. The three-storey building, and its external spaces, have been designed to integrate seamlessly with the scale and public realm of the wider development. The School will be home to The Broxbourne Sports Centre and The Broxbourne Music Centre – both of which will serve as very valuable assets for the local community.
Externally, the building has been designed as a beacon for modern education – welcoming pupils via a distinctive three-storey glazed colonnade. Internally, a large 3-storey atrium will be both the social and thephysical heart of the school. The vibrant and daylit atrium serves to knit the large community elements and the 3 teaching wings together into a cohesive whole. A large learning resource centre and 6th form study centre overlook the entrance to the site.
The school is an exemplary, hybrid offsite scheme which deployed an Optimised Component-led Approach to achieve significant cost, programme and sustainability benefits. The original scheme was rationalised and re-designed, then submitted for planning approval within 5 weeks; the planners immediately bought into the rationale of our use of an offsite construction methodology – as well as the architectural approach to the massing and facades.
The school was built in 15 months – throughout the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated governmental restrictions – and was handed over ahead of schedule.
The componentised hybrid approach was adopted at The Broxbourne School as it provided the greatest flexibility in the layouts and freedom to develop the façades – bespoke design through standard components.
The teaching wings follow a more efficient and standardised approach, deploying a full SIP solution – good proportions and simple vertical rhythm to the fenestration, predominantly brick, interspersed with coloured panels and aluminium fins. The communal and sports and drama faculties are a steel structure with a SIP panel wrap.
The architectural design and quality embody the aspirations of the new school – a school that is a beacon for education, transparent and accessible, with wellbeing at its heart.
The use of offsite technology effectively enabled the delivery of the school, allowing the project to be affordable and achievable, whilst meeting the Client’s quality aspirations.
A hybrid approach meant that the efficient method which was adopted in the wings allowed a more bespoke and contextualised approach to the entrance, library, and other areas of the school which help to define its character.
The efficiency savings, made from the use of offsite technologies, have provided added value benefits to the school – like enhanced outdoor environments and an attractive colonnaded arrival area with extensive glazing.
Highly insulated and air-tight fabric results have bought lower operational carbon and running costs for the school.
The staff and pupils are absolutely delighted with the outcome of the building and its environment.
The existing building is to be fully refurbished with the operational accommodation and appliance bays being retained at ground floor level.
Factory 2050 is the UK’s first fully reconfigurable assembly and component manufacturing facility for collaborative research.
