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Our continuing experience in the learning environment
Willow Tree Primary School
Basic description of the project and building
Willow Tree Primary School has been constructed on a 1.8 hectare
Brownfield site on Glendinning Street in Seedley, amalgamating three
existing local primary schools and contributing to the development
and improvement of the surrounding community.
Urban Vision Partnership Ltd, commissioned by Salford Children’s
Services Directorate as a multi disciplined team, created this modern
two form entry primary school providing capacity for 420 children,
Reception to Key Stage 2 (KS2) and a 60 place Nursery. Seddon
Construction Ltd were the Contractors
BREEAM Rating and score
Good
Key innovative and low-impact design features of the building
The internal and external spaces of the school have been designed to
ensure that children have a rounded learning experience through
interlinking both the internal and external learning spaces. For
example, the ground floor classrooms, nursery and reception areas
open out onto various specially designed `Natural Play` areas using
natural features such as organically shaped sand pits, boulders, bark
areas and timber bridges over gravelled river beds.
The new school forms a catalyst
to the regeneration of the areas perception
The first floor classrooms have also been equipped with 3m wide
external learning spaces for the KS2 children.
The external spaces within the site also include a pond and wetland
habitat area, an activity park with fixed equipment, a woodland play
area, as well as some traditional hard play and football pitch areas. A
free standing fabric canopy (Pagoda) structure forms a covered
external classroom, but also doubles up as a sun / rain shelter for
parents and guardians waiting to drop off and pick up their children.
The readings for the Solar Panel can be accessed via an internally
mounted panel and acts as a teaching and educational aid.
Basic Building Cost - £/m2 £1334/m2 Services Costs - £/m2 £459/m2
External Works - £/m2 £348
Gross floor Area- m2 2850m2
Total area of site – hectares
1.8h
Function areas and their size (m2)
Area of circulation (m2)
507.5m2
Area of storage (m2)
143m2
• Hall 180m/2 507.5m2
• Gallery Space 36m/2
• Classrooms 63m2 Area of storage (m2)
• Nursery 140m2
• Reception 126m2 143m2
Percentage area of buildings to be used by the community 10%
A nourishing environment, to stimulate
Education, Community, and Pride!
Predicted electricity consumption - kWh/m2
17 kWh/m2
Predicted fossil fuel consumption - kWh/m2
110 kWh/m2
Additional Renewable feature
Solar panel provides an educational resource by having an
Internally mounted panel providing readings for all the children to view
Predicted water use - m3/person/year
2 m3/person/year
Predicted water use to be provided by rainwater or grey water
Water butt to collect water for use within the kitchen garden
Seddon - Sustainable Building Design
In order to achieve sustainable development, Seddon creates a system
whereby innovation and sustainable building design are developed
throughout the whole of the project programme. This approach ensures
all available design options are fully considered at the earliest stages of
the project maximising cost benefit, and providing the greatest return
on investment. Sustainable considerations include detailed planning
and selection of appropriate energy efficient systems, analysis of all
available forms of energy that can be delivered to a building,
renewable energy potential and the selection of systems best suited to
meet demand, funding and payback periods for energy generation,
investment in sustainable materials throughout the supply chain
(including sub-contractors, buy-in materials, new and innovative
products), improvements in biodiversity and environmental localities
Create a horticultural area to provide a learning
Resource across the curriculum, with particular focus on
food, farming and the countryside; it can also be used
for recreation and extra‐curricular activity.
specification of low water consuming devices, and strict control of
waste production.
By taking full advantage of all sustainable options Seddon secures a
sustainable and cost effective building in terms of aspirational
requirements and environmental function.
Staged and Progressive Approach
Seddon adopts a stage and progressive approach towards achieving
sustainable specified objectives. This involves a hierarchal plan of action
which seeks to obtain those environmental standards vital to building
success. The process begins with focus on the minimum requirements
needed for Building Regulations, followed by a value engineering
process towards obtaining additional standards such as BREEAM, Code
for Sustainable Homes, EcoHomes etc.
A recent example of this approach is the construction of this Primary
School at Glendinning Rd, Salford. This particular building is now making
a tangible contribution towards the sustainability benefits of the local
and wider communities. During the design and construction phases
scoring was carried out in ten categories according to a specific set of
sustainable criteria. Assessment involved the management and control
of the building’s installed energy systems, the health and wellbeing of
end users (i.e. pupils, teachers, wider community), energy consumption
and the systems designed to reduce consumption, locality of nearby
transport facilities, cycle lanes and changing rooms, low water
consuming facilities (dual flush WCs, low flow urinals, flow restrictors on
taps and showers etc.), a robust selection of sustainable materials and
their life cycle benefits (i.e. the use of recycled aggregates against
standard aggregates, use of low volatile organic compounds against
standard products, materials with low embedded CO2 etc.), reduced
levels of waste during construction
(Seddon has its own waste transfer station which recycled close to 87%
of construction waste achieving an exemplar rating under the various
BREEAM schemes), provision for on-site recycling facilities, enhanced
ecology and biodiversity, sustainable innovation and exemplar
standards of achievement.
Approach towards a Sustainable Environment
Seddon strives to endorse the 3 Pillars of Sustainable Development;
Economic Development, Social Development and Environmental
Protection. This is demonstrated by our recent achievements under
BREEAM Education/Bespoke, Code for Sustainable Homes, Considerate
Constructors, Construction Site Impacts and others environmental
assessments. Seddon understands the impact that construction can
have on the local and wider environments, and therefore aims to
mitigate this impact using best practice procedures and standards.
During recent years Seddon has commissioned several environmental
policies in relation to its construction activities.
The intention is to make
further improvements based on the successes already gained. These
policy commitments have lessened the Company’s environmental
impact, promoted sustainable development and enhanced overall
environmental momentum.
With regards site activities monitoring and targeting is made in the
following areas;
• Close monitoring and reporting of on-site energy use, including monthly
limits on consumption, analysis of targets, graphical displays on notice
boards to inform site operative of consumption levels, and tool box talks
on simple energy saving measures such as don’t walk by, switch off;
Reduction of water consumption levels, which follows a similar set of
policies to those set for energy consumption i.e. monthly targets,
recording, monitoring, don’t walk by turn off, reporting leaks etc.
• Policy and training to mitigate pollution to air/ground and water courses
including, tool box talks, on-site policy to deal with risk and a robust set
of action-on procedures should a pollution incident occur.
Continuation of the above will remain a priority for Seddon
with a move towards a higher level of performance already
taking place. This will include monitoring and control of
transport to and from site, potential use of portable solar
photovoltaic panels/Eco cabins and other forms of
renewable energies to power plant, machines, etc. and
improvements to biodiversity of the surrounding areas where
practicable.
Seddon has greatly enhanced its environmental credentials
during recent years which have provided a sound base from
which further improvements can be made.
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Tel: 01204 570 400 - Registered Office: Plodder Lane, Edge Fold, Bolton BL4 0NN