Meadowfield School, Kent
With Haverstock Associates
Meadowfield Special Educational Needs School is an all age school which caters for pupils and students
(5-19) with profound, severe and complex learning difficulties. The school was created in September 2004 following the amalgamation of St Thomas’ and St. Bartholomew’s Schools and currently operates on two sites.
DETAILS
LOCATION: KENT
CLIENT: KENT COUNTY COUNCIL
COST: £7.5M
DATE: COMPLETED 2009
PROCUREMENT: TRADITIONAL (KENT FRAMEWORK)
SERVICES
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CONSULTING
BUILDING SERVICES DESIGN
DAYLIGHTING ANALYSIS
Strategy
The culmination of refurbishment and extension of the existing St. Thomas’ site resulted in a single site, purpose built PSC school.
Low-energy solutions feature highly in the building and services design. The building form has been developed to encourage and harness natural lighting and effective use of natural cross ventilation. The building also features means of passive solar control both in the form of overhangs and solar blinds to teaching spaces.
All year round natural ventilation to teaching spaces is achieved by a hybrid of manual and automated opening panels. Opening panels within the external façade, skylights or vent chimneys are controlled by an intelligent control system based on temperature, carbon dioxide, rain and wind speed.
To control and manage energy usage, the artificial lighting system is controlled by an intelligent control system to adjust lighting output based on occupancy and natural daylight to teaching spaces throughout the school. Underfloor heating is arranged in zones, so that only areas which are in use are heated, saving energy and running costs.