Marlwood School - Project Completed

Marlwood School forms part of the Castle School Education Trust (CSET), which Quattro’s?education architects?have been supporting over a number of years, providing architectural and strategic advice. The recent project at Marlwood School put sustainability and an inviting, invigorating learning environment at the very top of the priority list.

Working closely with the Trust and its innovative, forward-thinking leadership team, Quattro developed Marlwood’s strategic plan?for the entire site. This allowed CSET to inform development decisions and identify projects, allowing the school to function effectively, efficiently and to provide an excellent education to its students.

The school was to remain open throughout the development, making it a highly sensitive, busy and constrained site. It was, therefore, imperative that the safety of all – from students to staff and construction teams – was the top priority throughout. We are delighted that CSET’s dedicated team of professional educators were able to continue their incredibly important role whilst the school evolved.

Jonathan White, Senior Associate at Quattro Design Architects said this:

“We’re really pleased with how the joint vision – between Castle School Education Trust and ourselves – has become reality. Marlwood have really embraced the sustainable elements of the numerous upgrades to their buildings, and we look forward to continuing our excellent working relationship with CSET. We also look forward to hearing about how these changes have had a positive impact on the students they were designed to benefit.”

Our?school architects?designed a fantastic new environment, designed to inspire Marlwood’s students and staff alike. The resulting ￡5.2m refurbishment project included remodelling the main two storey school building to create improved teaching and learning facilities, relocating science as well as Design & Technology departments from elsewhere in the school. As part of the project, a number of legacy condition issues were resolved. By replacing defective windows and upgrading the roof, we improved the thermal fabric of the building, reducing ongoing maintenance costs and improving the thermal and energy efficiency of the building, leading to reduced running costs for the Trust.

Rationalising the school’s site, by moving departments out of redundant buildings and into new and improved teaching facilities with new classrooms and equipment will help give the school’s students the world-class education they deserve. The rear fa?ade of the school has also been re-modelled, giving the building a new lease of life and improving the aesthetics with new materials and vibrant colours to excite and inspire. In addition to new teaching spaces and the rear fa?ade, we improved accessibility within the main building, helping to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to learn.

Despite the school remaining open throughout the build process, and the complexities this posed, the build team completed the work in under 12-months. The new exterior, new windows, new roofing and the replacement of inefficient buildings have all played their part in making Marlwood a modern, welcoming, 21stcentury learning environment with greatly improved sustainability credentials.?Sustainable architecture?is at the heart of what we do, which is one of the reasons we were so excited to work with CSET on Marlwood’s transformation to a more efficient, cost effective and sustainable space for people to learn?as they move towards the decarbonisation of their estate.?

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