Willmott Dixon is celebrating the completion of a low carbon school building in Wales that uses many unique features set to become standard in the future.
The £1.5m Learning Plaza at Castle Park Primary School in Caldicot will provide flexible, multi-functional space, enabling staff and pupils to enjoy a unique form of personalised learning.
Innovative sustainable techniques use for the Learning Plaza include straw bales grown in local farm fields to create construction panels known as ModCell, used for the external walls of the building to deliver excellent thermal efficiencies.
Willmott Dixon has worked in partnership with Monmouthshire’s 21st Century Schools Team and Property Services on the Learning Plaza.
Adrian Brewer, regional director of Willmott Dixon in Wales, said: “This has been a particularly special project to be involved with, not only because it is the first of its kind in Wales, but also because of the pioneering construction methods we were able to implement throughout.”
The Learning Plaza will now be used by up to 60 pupils at a time. Areas on site have been specially designed for both indoor and outdoor learning, enabling the school to provide personalised learning that will help to prepare children for the transition from Primary to Secondary school, and further into higher education and employability.
Mr Brewer continued: “The Learning Plaza has fantastic sustainable credentials, meeting particularly high environmental standards, which is always important to Willmott Dixon, as a company that has in place an ambitious sustainability policy, including an objective to become carbon neutral by 2012 and send zero waste to landfill.”
The 2,613 square-metre building will feature office, workshop, collaboration and meeting space over four storeys, as well as innovation support services targeted at digital economy businesses.
An expert panel shared their insights into the challenges, solutions, and realities of achieving carbon net zero in construction as well as discussing the outcomes of COP26 and how the built environment should respond
The facility will include a combined training tower and breathing apparatus facility, and a realistic live fire training area
The programme will provide a unique learning experience to at least 10 young people - offering enhanced career prospects and a glimpse into life in the construction industry
To achieve net zero carbon in operation, the buildings will utilise biomass boilers and incorporate a large array of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that harness renewable energy
Block D latest in series of residential projects for Hounslow, including Frank Towell Court to create 102 new homes
In total, 33 affordable homes will be available when construction completes in January 2023
Despite the pandemic and the complications this caused, the bespoke headquarters were completed on time and within budget.