The Roots Eco Classroom

Accrington Academy, Lancashire, UKDesign Concept Award

Supported by Class Of Your Own Limited

2010 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture

Roots Eco Classroom

Roots Eco CLASSROOM

A Design for our Community

Our vision began 12 months ago following a workshop to help us to learn how to be more sustainable in our everyday lives. We formed teams of managers, architects, surveyors and landscapers to design the ultimate green building for our school. The different designs and presentations were judged and three winning teams were given the opportunity to make our vision a reality....By involving our community in the development and sustainability of our project we are helping to change the way people think about environmental issues.Local projects should help local people and that makes business sense. We aim to source all building and landscape supplies from within a 50 mile radius of our school thereby helping to support those local businesses. Our Pre Qualification Questionnaire will ensure that the local business community who wish to help us pull up their green socks, and treat sustainability as their number one priority.This is not just our classroom, but it will be our little brothers and sisters to enjoy for a long time. We will create a Learning Centre Maintenance Plan managed by a School Committee which will involve the whole community. Our building and its environment will be looked after throughout the seasons and during holiday periods. We will measure outcomes and record our progress, reporting back to our stakeholders at regular intervals.We are well aware that we are only temporary guardians of our classroom – we want to leave it as our legacy for future pupils of Accrington Academy.

Our Community Launch Day

To ensure that our community were fully involved in our plans and aspirations, we celebrated the launch of our ideas with speeches and presentations at the Academy.We invited members of the local community, the Lord Mayor of Accrington, the Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and local businesses and individuals who could help us turn our ideas into reality.

Learning in our Classroom

Roots is a company made up of a mixed age group of Accrington Academy students with one big idea. We have come together to create a unique, eco friendly and sustainable classroom. The plans for the classroom have involved a lot of communication, commitment and most of all the drive to ensure our ideas were realistic and as eco-friendly as possible. We wrote a company mission statement: “One Name, One Meaning, One Goal. That's what Roots is all about. Our aim is to show that by working together, no matter what your age, you can achieve anything. Building an Eco-Friendly classroom will prove this. When starting something new, and creating a project, you need foundations, you need Roots.” As project managers and end users, we will see our classroom completed from start to finish and learn some really good skills as we go. We know that employers value people with practical, hands on experience and knowledge and we’ve already used a wide range of functional skills to solve a wide range of real life work based problems! There’s much more to learn, and we’re very excited by the challenges of this next academic year.

Learning to Learn

By involving role models from the world of work we ensure that young people are encouraged to understand the excitement and importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and the career opportunities to which these STEM subjects can lead.We have also been able to develop ourPersonal Learning and Thinking Skills and how to become better citizens. We are great team workers, and get involved in all aspects of decision making with confidence.Our classroom will be open outside the normal school hours, so our community can learn at their own pace, and hold their own special events and activities. The most important fact is that we are able to encourage our community to be inspired by what we have done – we can teach them that living sustainably is actually very straight forward. We are actually up skilling our mums and dads....we’ve even told our government!

Our School Environment

Across our Academy we do lots to focus on our impact on climate change. We will reinforce our whole-school approach to leading the way in reducing carbon emissions.

Our classroom will allow students and the community to learn more about the impact a school building has on the environment and how we can effectively reduce energy and water use. They can then use this knowledge and adapt it to their own lifestyles.

Our classroom will be used to help our community learn about how to keep warm and healthy in their homes, and be energy efficient at the same time. We aim to make fuel poverty in Accrington a thing of the past.

Sustainable Design

This is an impression of our building . We designed a new learning environment for everyone to experience.

We’re making use of a wind turbine and photovoltaic cells to provide a natural source of electricity, and solar panels to provide hot water, capturing the natural energy of the sun. Timber beams support the building, using Glulam to maintain a strong structure and locally sourced chip board flooring. One of our walls will be constructed in recycled Accrington brick which was used in the foundations of the Empire State Building! We plan to insulate the walls with straw bale insulation, because it is a natural material which can be locally sourced.

We want a grass roof, which will look attractive from a bird’s eye view and will attract wildlife to the area. There is a pond at the front of the building which we hope will attract more wildlife which can be observed in the hide at the front of the building.

Rehearsing our Speeches

Final preparations for our planning presentation

“If our plans are approved, Accrington will be the first town in Great Britain to have a student led, completely sustainable building which will be used to its full potential by members of the academy and our community. It will also enhance the area’s heritage. “

“Our project has taught us about teamwork, and how to care for and preserve the environment which is a knowledge that many adults lack.”

“If we can have our building, we can help our community to look after OUR planet!”

Hyndburn Borough Council

Submission of our plans to Hyndburn Council Planning Department

“The focus of the scheme on building an ecological sustainable building ...is reflected in existing National and Regional Planning Policy and in emerging Local Policy.” “The outcome of the department's involvement in the scheme has been extremely positive.”“We would actively look to encourage the involvement of school children and the wider community in the development process, raising awareness of the planning process, its impact on society, shaping local communities and built environment. “

Hazel Fox, Planning Officer

Floor plan

Roof Plan

Section

Elevations

Elevations

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Data

Submitting Firm : Roots Accrington AcademyProject Role Student Management TeamProject Contact Kamila SaminTitle DirectorAddress c/o Accrington Acaemy, Queens Road West, City, State or Province, Country Accrington, Lancashire, United KingdomPhone 0044 1254 231579

Joint Partner Firm: Class Of your Own LimitedProject Role Professional SupportProject Contact Alison WatsonTitle DirectorAddress The Institute, St Nicholas’ Hall, SabdenCity, State or Province, Country Clitheroe, Lancashire, United KingdomPhone 0044 1282 680946

Other Firm: Gibson Architects LimitedProject Role Project ArchitectProject Contact Dan GibsonTitle DirectorAddress 150e Burton Road, West DidsburyCity, State or Province, Country Manchester, United KingdomPhone 0044 161 445 0416

Structural Engineers: Booth King Partnership LimitedProject Role Structural EngineersProject Contact Ian EntwistleTitle DirectorAddress 2nd Floor, 1 Grange Street, Rawtenstall, City, State or Province, Country Rossendale, Lancashire, United KingdomPhone 0044 1706 211 184

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Details

Project Name  Roots Eco Classroom

City  Accrington

State Lancashire

District Name  

Head Teacher Andrew Bateman

Occupancy Date  Spring/Summer 2011

Grades Housed  KS3-5 (Age 11 – 16)

 

Capacity(Students)  Approx. 30 (General Use) - 60 max.(Occasional Use)

Site Size (acres)  1.37

Gross Area (sq. ft.)  2960

Per Occupant(pupil)  98.7 sq.ft (General Use)

gross/net please indicate  gross

 

Design and Build?  Unknown at this stage

If yes, Total Cost:  

Includes:  

 

If no,  Unknown at this stage

Site Development:  

Building Construction:  

Fixed Equipment:  

Other:  

 

Total:  £300,000 – 400,000 (Approximate cost at this stage)

We made national headlines....!We made national headlines....!