Class winner in RIBA’s Yorkshire White Rose Awards 2008 was Sharrow Road School in Sheffield, where the active interest of the staff and pupils also earned them the title of “Yorkshire Client of the Year”.
Designed by Sheffield Council Design & Project Management and built by Kier Sheffield LLP, this new centre of learning was considered to provide “a safe, stimulating and at times delightful environment for its young users while benefiting the local community through its enhancement of the surrounding area,” according to the RIBA judging panel.
Part of the building’s sustainability credentials is its use of the BecoWallform insulating concrete formwork system which has been used to construct a concrete retaining wall for the “earth sheltered” area of the building and reduce energy consumption. Quick and economic to construct, the reinforced structure co-ordinated easily with the building design and provided a well insulated wall to ensure the long term comfort for pupils and staff, while improving the school’s thermal efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
The building incorporates a range of sustainability initiatives, including ground source heat pumps, bio-diverse green roofs and rainwater harvesting. These help reduce environmental impact and promote local ecology while also providing an educational resource for the young pupils.
Indeed the competition judges were so impressed during their visit to assess the school for the “Sustainable Futures” award that the project also won Silver for the “RIBA Yorkshire White Rose Award for Architecture”.
The interest and involvement of all these young customers in the project to build their new education facilities was recorded in a website and diary which explained the materials and construction activities used to create the building complex which also won the “RIBA Sustainable Futures Award”.
Read more about Sharrow School on the sharrowconstructionbuddies.blogspot.com
CASE STUDY: Sharrow School