Supporting a new sustainable community, Rugeley All Through School contributes to the redevelopment of a former coal-fired power station. The masterplan for the expansion of Rugeley promotes an environmental lifestyle through green travel corridors, solar meadows, and biodiversity, in turn reinforcing Engie’s sustainable commitment.
Jointly funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and Section 106 requirements (as part of the masterplan), the school is one of the first All Through Schools that will have to meet the requirements of the DfE’s Technical Annex 2J. The scheme will be net zero carbon and fossil fuel free in operation.
The design incorporates biophilic design principles and centres on a courtyard linking two larger parallel wings, this affording greater to the outside.
The scheme has prevalent design elements such as materiality, form, massing and renewable energy, with an equally important emphasis placed on aspects including health and wellbeing, flexibility of use, and resilience to climate change.
Rugeley, John Taylor School
Net zero carbon design
Rugeley, John Taylor School content
Spotlight
A new All Through School with sustainability at it’s heart. The school sits at the centre of a wider sustainable masterplan which looks to regenerate a former power station site in Rugeley, Staffordshire; providing education places for local children in the community from the ages of 3 upto 18 years old. Part funded by the Department for Education, the school will be one of the first in the UK to meet the requirements of the DfE’s new sustainability guidance and the current design aims to improve upon their minimum targets for energy consumption. Utilising the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) methodology, the school uses a combination of air and ground source heat pumps, a thermally active building system (TABS) for heating whilst ventilation will be provided predominantly via natural methods. Furthermore, roof mounted photovoltaic array and the adjacent ‘solar meadow’ will ensure that the school is powered sustainably and achieves net zero carbon and remains free of fossil fuels in operation.
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