Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School

The Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School is the first Passivhaus school in Powys. It delivers excellent energy efficiency, ultra-low embodied carbon and inspiring spaces for learning that enhance health and wellbeing for students and staff. The design focuses on creating a sense of community, excellent accessibility and flexibility in teaching and learning spaces.

Location

Welshpool, UK

Area

2,316 m2

Status

Completed

Year

2020

Client

Powys County Council

The new school building is on the Salop Road playing fields of the existing Welshpool High School in Wales. The design focuses on creating a sense of community, excellent accessibility, and providing a high-quality environment and flexibility in teaching and learning spaces. The eco-minimalist building uses timber and natural healthy materials and provides an exceptional operational energy performance of 56kWh/m/year - more than 80% better than typical new build primary schools. The ultra-energy efficient design means annual bills are reduced by £60,000 compared to a standard build primary school, giving the school millions of pounds over the building’s life to spend on books, equipment, and teaching support.

The project’s ambitions were high from day one, with the aim to reflect the school's ethos of "bringing out the best in each other”. Powys Council wanted a school that would align with the Wales 21st Century School Programme, which aims to increase the efficiency and quality of education spaces for a more equal Wales, and be an exemplar ecological school.

It is a great learning environment for students. We’re able to provide real-life examples of sustainability by showing them solar panels and its benefits – as well as waste management. The hallway space is often for used for activities while the classrooms are airy, provide natural sunlight and reflect upon a focused environment since there’s limited external noise and great acoustics

Marianne Evans, Headteacher Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School

We have a proven track-record in delivering natural low-impact materials as part of mainstream solutions.

Natural Materials

How can natural, low-impact materials be effectively integrated into projects?

Innovating with Natural Materials

Vision

All vision

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Design

The school is welcoming and open with plenty of space for displays of students’ work, learning themes and the school's achievements. Classrooms are arranged to reflect progression through the school and key stages, and the building is flexible enough to allow for an increase in students from 230 to 300.

The Passivhaus triple glazed windows not only help regulate indoor temperatures but also eliminate external noise. Careful acoustic design means voices don't reverberate or carry beyond classroom walls, so common areas remain undisturbed and can be used as additional learning spaces. Classrooms receive ample natural daylight and benefit from a constant supply of fresh air through mechanical ventilation heat recovery, which also means heat and energy can be recovered.

The embodied carbon emissions from the building are minimised, with low carbon natural materials including timber construction and cellulose (recycled newspaper) insulation. As well as the timber frame, the school is clad in timber and has a timber roof.

Expertise

Prefabrication to speed up delivery

Modern methods of construction were used to achieve quicker assembly on site. This included the timber frame walls and floor which were prefabricated at a local factory and brought to site as cassettes. This saved time and also meant less timber was wasted.

A school that performs as designed

The school’s performance at completion is exactly as predicted at design stage, with no performance gap from design to construction stage – unlike the poor industry average of a 40% gap.