Environmental Building Award

Awarded to the school building project that can demonstrate a benefit to both the learning and local environment through its design.

2009 Winner: Queen Elizabeth’s School Sustainability Education Centre, Wimborne, Dorset

Teachers, pupils, and parents saw the ribbon cut on the new Sustainability Education Centre at Queen Elizabeth’s School in June this year. The £2.7m eco-friendly building, which is a redevelopment and extension of Farthing Hall on the school campus, will be used to teach schoolchildren and adults in the Wimborne area about sustainability.

The centre’s frame is made of locally sourced timber with render and part timber cladding. The walls have been insulated with 6,000 recycled newspapers, donated by local people, and straw bales. Sheep’s wool has been used to insulate the roof, which contains solar panels to generate electricity. Renewable energy technologies have been installed to reduce energy consumption, including automatic lighting systems and photovoltaic panels. Natural ventilation has been incorporated into the building's cooling system.

The Sustainability Education Centre is part of a larger on-going project to replace the school that will set a national benchmark for environmentally-friendly design, as the DCSF has selected Queen Elizabeth's School as one of only three Pathfinder Projects to be granted additional funding. Green features also planned for new buildings on the school’s main site, include woodchip-burning boilers, solar power, rain-water recycling, recycled building materials and low energy usage. Already, the centre is facilitating inclusion and participation in the widest issues of sustainability.

Commended:

Old Park Primary School, Telford
Taylor Road Primary School, Leicester