Erdington Skills Centre
Birmingham Metropolitan College
Birmingham
Completed 2015
Birmingham Metropolitan College’s Erdington campus provides a state-ofthe-art construction training facility.
We chose to align the scheme to the residential scale on the frontage by breaking the massing down into a series of gables which picks up on the rhythms of the nearby terraced houses. The building balances the residential
typology with that of the High Street by providing a glazed facade at ground level to provide an active frontage.
The Centre was shortlisted for a national Brick Award under the Best Craftsmanship category (eventually losing out to tough competition: the winner of the Stirling Prize, no less).
James Watt Campus
Birmingham Metropolitan College
Great Barr, Birmingham
2014 - 2015
Working closely with staf and students, we refurbished the ground foor entrance area to the Aldridge Building creating an open plan, double height foyer as well as providing fexible exhibition/teaching spaces. An informal social space for students and staf accommodates ‘pods’ that were developed with artist Rob Colbourne.
The former campus Auditorium, located at the heart of the campus, has been refurbished into a new Learning Resource Centre which acts as the main
hub for the college. It incorporates a variety of teaching and meeting spaces as well as informal areas for students and staf to meet, learn and socialise.
The new Sustainable Energy Centre is the base for providing BMET’s curriculum which focuses on the development of sustainable technologies. Whilst the building accommodates the latest ‘active’ sustainable technology, we were keen for the building to also demonstrate elements of ‘passive’ sustainable design.
Standard Works
Ruskin Mill Land Trust (RMLT)
Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham
2015 - 2017
We completed the frst phase of the Standard Works building in the Jewellery Quarter for RMET to bring it back to life as a specialist education college.
As well as educational use, the building also now provides a cafe, performance space, exhibition space, and roof garden.
Futures Centre, Shrewsbury College
Severndale Specilist Academy
Shrewsbury
Completed 2015
Part of the Severndale Specialist Academy, this centre is located on the campus of Shrewsbury College and helps 16 – 18 year olds, with a range of learning difculties, to integrate with society through vocational activities.
The plan of the building is centred around a central social space which has a large glazed roof section to allow for ventilation and to bring natural light into the building. This space is used for group activities as well as providing a cafe for students,
as providing a cafe for students, staf and visitors. The building provides a range of large workshop areas and circulation spaces, along with smaller support rooms.
Externally, metal cladding has been used with a vertical section to emphasise the building form. Double glazed windows and surrounding timber reveals break up the mass of elevation and the curved corners provide a softness to the building.
Glasshouse College
Ruskin Mill Trust
Stourbridge 2015
We worked for Ruskin Mill Trust on a phased development of Glasshouse College and the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge which provides educational buildings, commercial premises and visitor facilities using glassmaking as a focus.
The Glasshouse site was formerly the home of Royal Doulton Glass who produced crystal on site until 2000.
The frst phase involved the redevelopment of the old Glasshouse building to provide small independent commercial workshops and a series of incubator units for startup businesses, as well as a cafe and exhibition space.
Phase 2 involved the refurbishment and extension of the historic Lower Glasshouse to provide a museum, arts facilities and theatre space.
Phase 3 of Glasshouse College was made up of two buildings: the Acid House at the rear of the existing glass centre which provides an additional 5 workshops; and Yates’ Yard which is a new reception for Glasshouse College. Yates’ Yard also provides 2 further workshops, and a gallery / activity space.
Overbury School
Overbury School
Overbury, Worcestershire
2014
Situated at the foot of Bredon Hill, Overbury First School is a Grade II Listed Building designed by Richard Norman Shaw. The original school was constrained by an absence of a hall and by a lack of space in general. Our design proposal looked to tackle these issues and bring the facilities up to current standards.
By maximising and improving the existing space in phase one and further extending the building in phase two it was agreed that this would be the best way of achieving the school’s ambitions whilst retaining the integrity of the listed Victorian building.
Stourbridge College
Birmingham Metropolition College
Stourbridge Completed 2016
The Advanced Technology Centre in Stourbridge delivers BMET’s carpentry, plumbing and electrical curriculum.
Halesowen College
Halesowen College
Halesowen
Completed 2020
We worked with Halesowen College on a number of internal and external refurbishment works from April 2018, with the frst phase completed over the summer 2018.
Phase 1
This frst phase of works on the college was completed in just six weeks, over the summer holidays. A former learning resource centre and canteen in Shenstone House were transformed into an informal learning area with a supervised study space and cafeteria.
Phase 2
Block 2 at the Whittingham Road Campus was remodelled as a new centralised LRC and Student Hub.
Phase 3
Whittingham Road Blocks 4 and 5 were developed in tandem to provide new larger, double height spaces, fexible teaching areas and open plan student break out spaces centred around business, languages and higher education.
Heathfield Knoll School
KSI Education Group
Wolverley, Worcestershire
2019 onwards
This frst phase of works on the school, the Sebright Building, provided a new build teaching block for music, food and computing.
We have also worked with the school to provide three further facilities; a new two storey art and teaching block, a single storey addition dedicated to older students and a much needed extension and associated internal refurbishment to the dining hall.
Priory School
Priory School
Edgbaston 2007 onwards
We worked with the school’s planning consultants, CSJ Brookesmith, to prepare a feasibility study which would establish a framework for the future development of the Grade II Listed school.
The feasibility study was used to develop a strategy for Priory School development. The fndings of the study highlighted a need for new teaching areas.
Most recently we worked on a three storey extension. Providing six new classrooms; two for prep-school / reception age and four for primary. The design has evolved out of thorough consultation with end-users and a detailed assessment of the site and its historical importance. The result is an extension which satisfes the school’s needs as well as sensitively reviving the aesthetic of the prep-school area.
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre
Birmingham
Completed 2012
From 1903 until 2023 Woodbrooke was Europe’s only Quaker Study Centre, ofering adult education.
It was based in the former family home of the local chocolate maker, George Cadbury, himself a Quaker.
The building was designed as a contemporary addition to the Grade II Listed building, taking clues from the rhythms and detailing of the main house.
In accordance with the Quaker ethos the building is highly sustainable having been constructed from ‘Porotherm’ clay blocks which achieve exceptional U-values without the need for man-made fbrous insulation. All materials achieved A or A+ in the BRE Green Guide to Sustainability.
Rookery School
Rookery School (Academy)
Birmingham
Completed 2013
Rookery School, in Handsworth, is spread across three Grade II Listed buildings.
The conceptual idea for the new building evolved from an analysis of the schools name, surrounding area and the ethos of the newly formed Academy. From the analysis, the idea of a birds nest evolved, which is a timber and glass structure that is overlaid with large ‘twig’ like sections of timber which symbolises nature and nurture.
The lightweight and transparent structure of the ‘nest’ is not only a counter point to the heavy brickwork of the existing buildings but also symbolises the aspirations of the Academy moving forward.
The birds nest sits at the heart of the school and acts as a hub between all 3 buildings. It is linked back to the buildings via elegant timber and glass ramped walkways, which are deliberately stripped back to allow the birds nest to
become the focal structure and provide a visual separation between the existing listed buildings.
Learning Resource Centre
King Edwards VI College Stourbridge
Completed 2019
Over 2018 - 2019 we transformed a sports hall into a learning resource centre and new classrooms.
Landscape Architect, Rob Colbourne worked on a design to remove all on-site parking.
New Teaching Block
King Edwards VI College Stourbridge 2022 - present
This new teaching block took reference from the Pi Building we designed for the college in 2012, with buf brickwork, recessed window panels and decorative vents.
Pi Building, completed 2013
Foley Building
King Edwards VI College
The Foley Building at King Edward VI College in Stourbridge provides dance and drama studios, ICT suites and graphic studios, as well as dining facilities and a cofee shop.
The architectural design drew on the collective history of the campus, bringing together elements from an historic 15th century façade and other 19th and 20th century buildings.
The building is recognisably contemporary, yet sits harmoniously alongside its historic neighbours.
The form is derived from the existing pitched roof forms around the college, manipulated to provide north lights into the graphic and dance studios to enhance daylight. The sawtooth form extruded along the site curves to draw pedestrians into an outdoor seating area.
