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Cobblers Lane Primary School.

Following the DfES Exemplar Schools initiative for which we provided the structural engineering design, Walters & Cohen won several commissions for new junior schools which gave the opportunity to bring their visions to fruition.

Consolidation of three separate buildings into one coherent school structure

 

Location
Pontefract, UK
Client
NPS North East, Wakefield Council
Architect
Walters & Cohen
Project Value
£3.5 million
Floor Area
2,000 m²
Status
completed 2007
Expertise
Structures

This one in Pontefract brings together juniors, middle school children and infants into a single new building. The architectural concept is to concentrate all circulation spaces into one large volume, ‘the heart of the school’, which can be used for formal and informal gatherings, with the other smaller volumes clustered around it. The basic section is clear and elegant, with the heart higher and wider than the classrooms which flank it, so it can be lit by clerestory windows. Each classroom has windows onto a protected outdoor space, divided between classrooms by WC blocks.

Supporting this concept is a case of matching established techniques and proven components to the architectural form and cooperating with the M&E engineers to achieve satisfactory natural ventilation rather than developing any new principles, though in Pontefract the ground suffers from void migration, a condition that needs more elaborate strip foundations than usual. While the floor is precast beam and block with a ventilated void, the structure is a steel frame with the roof formed from precast concrete planks which assist natural ventilation with thermal mass.

Awards.

Two
Manhattan
West
Lobby
'Radiant Lines'
installation
 
 
A Brick for Venice thumbnailA Brick
for Venice.
 
 
One
Gosvenor
Square
 
Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities thumbnailThe Stephen A. Schwarzman
Centre for the Humanities
 
 
Albert Bridge House thumbnailAlbert Bridge House.
 
 
 
Edgar's Sheds thumbnailEdgar's
Sheds.
 
 
Luton     Town FC
Stadium.
 
 
St Pancras Campus thumbnailSt Pancras
Campus.
 
 
Wind Sculpture
(TG) I
 
 
Sentosa
Sensoryscape.
 
 
The
Beacon.
 
 
Liverpool
School of
Architecture.
 
Malaika
School.
 
 
Cherry
Groce
Memorial.
 
Khudi
Bari.
 
 
Haus Gables thumbnailHaus
Gables.
 
 
10   Lewis
Cubitt
Square.
 
'Drift'
footbridge.
 
 
3290_HighRes_render_N9_hdThe
Gaumont.
 
 
5448_N8_hdCrinkle-Crankle
Concrete.
 
 
4926_HiRes_rendering_N7_hdApex
1.
 
 
5008_highRes_image_N3_hdUCB
Headquarters
Campus.
 
Manor    Road
Quarter.
 
 
17 Charterhouse
Street.
 
 
Brent Cross
Plot 15.
 
 
100-West-Cromwell-Road-thumbnail100
West Cromwell
Road.
 
Brent Cross
Plot 25.
 
 
Chapter
London
Bridge.
 
Roatan
Prospera.