Fraser Brown Mackenna Architects

Carshalton Boys Sports College

CARSHALTON BOYS SPORTS COLLEGE

Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects

Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker

CLIENT
Carshalton Boys Sports College

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Fraser Brown Mackenna

COST CONSULTANT
Burnley Wilson Fish

SUSTAINABILTY ENGINEER
XCO2

MANUFACTURERS
United Anodisers

PLANNING CONSULTANT
Adn Planning

MAIN CONTRACTOR
Charter Construction

ARBORICULTURAL CONSULTANT
Clive Fowler Associates

MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL
XCO2

SOFTWARE USED
Sketchup, 3d Studio Max

M&E/ SUSTAINABILTY ENGINEER
XCO2

PHOTOGRAPHS
Tim Crocker

M&E
XCO2

AREA
775 m²

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
United Kingdom

CATAGORY
Schools

Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker

Text description provided by architect.

Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects designed a classroom suite for Carshalton Boys Sports College in South London. The building is clad in perforated and solid Cor-ten panels and utilised off-site manufacture to meet programme, budget, and sustainability requirements.

The new built-for-purpose Maths facility replaced a deteriorating temporary structure, providing eight new flexible classrooms, staff offices and WC facilities within a new 775sqm single storey building.

Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker
Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker

With its intriguing visual aesthetic the new Cor-ten clad facility promotes a positive, modern identity for the department and provides an improved working environment within.

The interiors are flooded with natural light and make use of moveable partitions to provide flexible and generous teaching spaces. Full-height internal windows looking onto the corridor improve lighting conditions and aid surveillance.

Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker
Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker

Whilst initially met with some hesitation, indications post-completion have shown the transparency of the space had a positive impact, improving student attentiveness and behaviour within a more mature working environment.

The school Principal Simon Barber commented that ‘the design of the new building is outstanding and is being seen as a benchmark for other local schools who are facing the same challenges as my own – how to provide high quality teaching spaces with a limited budget and less time than we might like to deliver them.’

Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker
Carshalton Boys Sports College
© Tim Crocker

FBM worked closely with the board of governors at Carshalton and the contractors on site to successfully achieve a fast build whilst faced with time, health and safety, and operational constraints caused by working during term time at the college.

Building to a 1200mm grid, simplicity in design and the use of modular components manufactured off-site helped to achieve the 6 month programme with the timber frame taking under two weeks to erect.

Carshalton Boys Sports College
Plan
Carshalton Boys Sports College
Floor Plan

The building exterior is primarily formed by a pre-weathered Cor-ten steel box, with anodised aluminium accents at the entry and exit points.
-A warm tonal variety that both knits with the contextual red-brick palette whilst maintaining a character of its own.

-An evolving, weathered appearance that changes over time, adding educational value to the buildings aesthetic whilst promoting interest in the department 

Carshalton Boys Sports College
Diagram

- A low maintenance facade - A durable, protective envelope. The variety of transparencies responds to the different environmental conditions found around the building protecting the interiors from excessive solar gains.

By adopting a single storey design with sheltered play spaces we have minimised the visual and sounds impacts of the building and its users to the surroundings. This was essential in ensuring that the building would receive planning approval without objection within funding timescales.

Carshalton Boys Sports College
Diagram

The Cor-ten forms a raised parapet to the perimeter of the building to mask plant items when viewing the building from the surrounding context. FBM design reacted to environmental conditions to provide a highly sustainable and flexible teaching facility. Sustainability has been integrated through using:

- A timber frame, highly efficient thermal envelope, the roof U value at 0.1 W/m2k - High performance glazing used on all doors and windows.  - High efficiency boilers to reduce energy use and heating costs. 

Carshalton Boys Sports College
Site Plan Model
Carshalton Boys Sports College
Site Plan

- Photovoltaic panels, totalling a 7 kW capacity have been integrated into the roof to provide green electrical energy sufficient for the buildings requirements, which only needs supplementing in exceptional circumstances

- Natural light and ventilation throughout via regularly spaced windows and roof lights - Low energy luminescent with intelligent control - Perforated cladding providing passive solar shading

- Off-site manufacture of key components and building to a 1200mm grid meant there were no timber cut-offs, minimising material waste - The site waste management plan ensured that other than soil waste, any waste produced was recycled or re-used

The project was part funded through the Academy Capital Maintenance Fund grant and incorporated sustainable solutions such as a super-insulated thermal envelope and 7kW capacity photovoltaic panels to considerably minimize running costs.

Carshalton Boys Sports College is a non-selective convertor Academy in a selective borough. The majority of students are from socioeconomic backgrounds below the national average. Despite this, achievement is significantly above the national average and improving rapidly, with the school included in the 100 ‘most improved schools’ for the past three years running

Fraser Brown Mackenna Architects
T +44 20 72510543
Fraser Brown Mackenna Architects
15-18 Featherstone St, London EC1Y 8SL, United Kingdom