Back to School With SOLID
In 2013 SOLID were appointed as engineers on the development of St Edburg’s Primary School, working alongside Clews Architects and Willmott Dixon. The school was developed as part of the new Kingsmere development, in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council.
Providing a balanced school experience was a vital part of the requirements, the soft and hard landscaping design was as important as the building’s design. Through our infrastructure capability, we designed the outdoor spaces within the school’s budgetary constraints. These include a MUGA, sensory garden, nursery play area, sports pitches, terraced seating area, landscaped mound and wildlife zone with attenuation pond.
Following a significant increase in demand for school places, Oxfordshire County Council granted planning permission for a new early-years building to sit alongside the primary school and building began in 2023, with SOLID once again appointed as Civil and Structural Engineers. The addition of the Early Years school allows St Edburg’s C of E Primary School to successfully expand from a two-form entry to a three-form entry school. This specialised second site introduces facilities specifically designed for children from nursery to year two. The resources are better suited to the developmental needs of the younger children attending the school.
Sustainability has consistently been a key priority in this development. The new building has been designed to be net-zero in operation (regulated) and BREEAM Very Good. The design includes elements such as air source heat pumps, electrical car charge points and PV panels to help meet sustainability measures, future proof the building and reduce running costs.
The earthworks strategy focuses on optimising material use by considering factors such as elevation changes, local fill material, and existing access levels. This approach ensures a sustainable and efficient construction process. During the early design phase, SOLID’s civil engineers recognised the need to adjust the building’s orientation and positioning to facilitate suitable connections with the existing site access levels while maintaining a practical earthworks design.
The drainage design aims to replicate natural runoff patterns, using infiltration wherever feasible. In areas where infiltration is not possible, surface water runoff is managed through a system of linear channels, gullies, and underground pipes, which discharge water at three separate connection points around the site. These pipes then direct surface water into a larger off-site surface water management system, where the water is stored and treated in large detention ponds. An oil and petrol separator has been installed to remove pollutants from the car parking area before the surface water enters the drainage network.
Foul water will be conveyed via gravity into a strategic sewerage network, designed to support unrestricted drainage across each development parcel.
The structural design works as a braced steel framed structure on lightly reinforced strip and pad foundations. The building is u-shaped on plan with the back-to-back classrooms forming the two wings and the main hall structure at the top of the u. External canopies frame the classroom elevations that provide access out to the external spaces. The steel frame was modelled in 3D and coordinated across the other disciplines using the online BIM360 platform. The roofs have been designed to house numerous roof lights and PV panels. Bracing and façade steels work within the SFS external envelope.
It is wonderful to see the project completing on site and SOLID are proud to have been part of the team, working alongside Acanthus Clews, Willmott Dixon and CBG Consultants Ltd.
