Quality of Design
The project is the provision of a new Foundation Phase Primary School Unit on a site adjacent to the existing Ysgol y Graig School site - increasing the capacity from 330 to 480 pupils, together with nursery and childcare provision.
The design concept for the school was to design a highly sustainable school building which complimented the existing school and incorporate some of the original features into a new modern design. They new building compliments the surrounding landscape, tree backdrop, boundary hedgerows and natural environment through it’s external cladding, finishes and external glulam tree columns. The building is highly sustainable, highly insulated, with natural ventilation and daylighting and the use of natural sustainable materials where possible.
All classrooms are accessed off a central street and all classrooms have direct access to partly covered external teaching spaces. Natural daylighting is maximised to all teaching areas and careful consideration has been given to acoustic performance internally.
The design also provides a transparent building. A central circulation corridor passes along the length of the building – with full-height glazing at either end to allow a clear view right through the building to all pupils, staff and visitors.
Sustainability and Environmental Performance
The building construction processes and materials were selected to provide a highly sustainable and energy efficient school.
The new school has been constructed using a SIPS Panel system throughout - Structural insulated Panels – constructed off-site, therefore resulting in zero-waste construction and low embodied energy, with reduced costs and time on site. Passivehouse principles have been adopted within the design – especially with regard to air tightness, reducing thermal bridging and continuation of insulation materials. The building is being targeted as a Net Zero Carbon Building during occupation.
The new school will achieve a BREEAM Excellence rating based on it’s sustainable design, material reuse, material selection, waste reduction and ecology enhancements. Most of the building materials were selected due to their Environmental Product Declaration certificates.
The construction build-up and insulation used within the floors, external walls, roof and windows and doors exceeded the required Building Regulation U-Values by 60-80%. A fabric first approach was adopted to create a sustainability strategy based on the principles of:
• Reduce the need for energy in the building
• Increase the energy efficiency in the building
• Replace fossil fuels with solar renewables
The largest ever PV Array (716m²) has been installed by Anglesey on this school building.
Functionality and Learning Impact
The new building has allowed the school staff to enrich the educational provision offered to the children. The way the classrooms are designed has facilitated the teachers' work as they create a learning environment that motivates children to want to learn. All the children have easy access to an outdoor area that acts as an extension of the classroom. The space is also designed in a way that allows the children to learn in a completely safe environment. The outdoor areas allow for flexible learning, where children from two different classes can mix during lessons. Within the nursery, reception, and Year 1 classrooms, the toilets are located within the classrooms, which allows children to develop independence in their self-care skills.
There are two sensory rooms in the building which have proven to be very important. There are neurodiverse and vulnerable children in the school who need short periods out of the classroom at times to calm down. These rooms, which are full of sensory resources, have proven to be extremely useful with these children. After a short time in the sensory rooms, they can return to the classroom where they cope better. The library has proven to be a great success. Although the local library is close to the school, very few of the children go there. The library has enabled the school to foster the children's interest in books. They love going there. The children and staff have moved from a building where the classrooms were open plan, where the staff noticed that children had difficulty concentrating because there was so much noise from neighbouring classrooms and people walking past. At Graig Fach, each classroom has a door and window opening onto a wide corridor. There is a sense of calm and quiet there, allowing the children to concentrate much better. There is also a space to conduct literacy/numeracy and well-being intervention sessions, again in quiet areas. Staff also make considerable use of the small kitchen room, taking groups of children there to cook.
