Project: Isle of Wight Schools
Location: Ryde and Ventnor, Isle of Wight
Client: EFA/ Interserve Plc.
Services; Architecture, Interior Design, Space Planning, Structural Engineering, MEP Engineering, Acoustic Design and Landscape Design.
Value: £15m
Design Stages: RIBA Stages 2-7
Project Completion: 2018
As part of the government’s Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP), Percy Thomas Architects worked alongside the Educational Funding Agency and Interserve Plc to design and deliver two new build schools, one for primary education and one for secondary education.
The Island Free School, located in Ventnor, is a five form entry school for children aged 11-16, with a total of 625 pupils. The school aspired to become an intrinsic part of the local community and was designed to maximise out of hours community use. The school’s specialism is music and performing arts, and one of the key project drivers was to ensure that this be woven into the teaching and underlying philosophy of the school’s education offering; academically and socially. For example, this included embedding the music facilities within the community use area and integrating musical instruments in social spaces.
As part of this project, we also designed the expansion of the Oakfield Primary School site. This involved the construction of a two form entry building to accommodate 420 pupils over 14 classrooms. Due to the complexity of the site - a conservation area with an expanse of mature trees and a number of existing buildings - sensitivity to the surroundings was paramount. Whilst many of the existing buildings were eventually demolished, St Johns House, a Grade II Listed building, was retained and renovated to accommodate teaching and therapy spaces for children with special educational needs.
Across the UK, our clients rely on us every day to de-risk, simplify, and un-complicate things. How? With the right team and the right solution – on time, and on budget.
Working with public and private sector organisations, we provide specialist project and cost management, engineering and design, health and safety, and environmental solutions. We do things differently, specialising in infrastructure – the physical networks which keep the country moving, as well as the social infrastructure which creates communities people want to be a part of – and in building solutions, from architectural innovation to sustainable and technologically advanced design and delivery.
Across the UK, our clients rely on us every day to de-risk, simplify, and un-complicate things. How? With the right team and the right solution – on time, and on budget.
Working with public and private sector organisations, we provide specialist project and cost management, engineering and design, health and safety, and environmental solutions. We do things differently, specialising in infrastructure – the physical networks which keep the country moving, as well as the social infrastructure which creates communities people want to be a part of – and in building solutions, from architectural innovation to sustainable and technologically advanced design and delivery.
