Pens Meadow School, Dudley
Value - £17m | Client - Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
A brand-new SEN school for 3 to 19-year-olds with special educational and medical needs built with sustainability in mind.
Image credit: Corporate Landlord Services at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Located in Pensnett, a primarily residential area with a considerable amount of social housing, the new school was constructed on the grounds of the former one and provides a crucial service to the broader community by specialising in SEN education and increasing capacity for children with severe learning difficulties.
Appointed by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, we provided mechanical design services at RIBA stage 4 (design to tender) and stage 5 site coordination. The design includes sustainable elements such as photovoltaic (PV) panels for electricity generation and a digital interface heating system for energy efficiency.
The school incorporates environmentally friendly, carbon-neutral technologies that work alongside gas-fired boilers and has the capacity to run entirely on heat pump technology to supply the school’s heating and reduce carbon emissions.
Classrooms were designed with a mixed-mode hybrid ventilation strategy. This low energy ventilation system mixes the air streams to recover heat efficiently. The design met NR25 noise rating standards, which is key to the needs of the pupils and their learning.
Our team carried out regular site visits and worked closely with the mechanical subcontractor throughout the build, which was essential as the main contractor had excluded RIBA stage 5 duties from their tender, which we helped with and provided additional on-site support.
The mechanical systems were designed with simplicity and cost-efficiency in mind. The digital interface, heating system and building management systems (BMS) automate the heating, providing an easy to use and minimal-maintenance solution.
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Services used:
Building services
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