The Redevelopment of St Bartholomew’s School
Time Lapse video
St Bartholomew’s School was chosen by West Berkshire Council to benefit from a complete rebuild with approximately £33 million in funding coming via the government’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme.
Following a detailed design phase planning permission was granted for new state-of-the-art buildings to be constructed on the school’s existing site.
The contractor, Willmott Dixon, one of the country’s largest privately owned construction companies, was appointed and building works began in April 2009. The buildings will feature large, light and airy classrooms and a central covered courtyard to be used for school assemblies and a host of other activities. The indoor facilities will include a dance studio, a large school hall, excellent ICT provision and a dedicated Sixth Form area.
The new buildings will benefit from the Low Carbon Schools Programme which has enabled the designs to include a host of features to increase energy efficiency and make the school highly sustainable. These features include a green roof, a biomass boiler using recycled wood chips to provide low carbon energy, plus achieving a BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) rating of excellent, the highest possible.
It is anticipated the building works will be completed in October 2010 after which the school will move out of its old accommodation. Final work will then be completed to provide floodlit outdoor sports facilities to include a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and a synthetic turf pitch.