Better by design

Feb 19 2008

DELIGHTED chiefs at a ground-breaking Rugeley school are celebrating after being short-listed for a top design award.

Redbrook Hayes Community Primary was highly commended in the category for best practice in UK design and construction of schools at the British Council for School Environments (BCSE) awards.

The landmark £3.3m Redbrook development won a Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) award last year and has been nominated for a number of other prizes since its completion in December 2006.

Coun Tony Wilkins, from Staffordshire County Council, said: "Staffordshire is delighted that its vision for a 'school of the future' has been highly commended by BCSE.

"We commissioned London-based architects Walter and Cohen to help achieve this vision and both parties are now rightly proud of what is a flag-ship school building."

Mandy Chaganis, Headteacher at Redbrook Hayes added:

"Redbrook Hayes is a truly inspirational place to teach and learn and we are all enormously proud of our school.

"The children are thriving in their new environment and the school and library have become a focal point of the community."

Based on flexibility and adaptability, the concept is one of an open and transparent school which encourages integration.

Corridors are kept to a minimum, while key to the design is a central "heart" of the school which can be adapted for a wide range of uses.