Falmouth School’s New Building Receives Prestigious Local Award

Ever since a group of students undertook to design it in 2004, the Design and Technology Block at Falmouth School has never been far away from the limelight.  We’ve watched as these year 8 and 9 children not only came up with a design through the ‘Joined up Design for Schools’ program, but also convinced funders to invest in their scheme to replace what they thought of as an outdated part of their school.  Later as the foundations were dug and the first stone laid we saw their ideas become a reality, one that would eventually be completed in September of 2008.

London based architects Urban Salon, collaborating with the students  as clients, came up with an eye-catching design to fulfil the many needs and requests identified by the children during the consultation and planning stage of their scheme.  Previously described as “rock star meets maths professor”, this architect, design studio relished the challenge of designing a building to such a strict brief; to create a building using sustainable materials, which was as environmentally friendly as possible, whilst providing practical spaces in which to learn.

It is since its completion however that the building has received the most attention, with many nominations, and wins, for awards ranging from best timber construction to the latest, the Local Authority Building Control (LABC), Building Excellence Award for Best Educational Building in the South West. The LABC Awards, held at the Palace Hotel Torquay on Friday 13th February, bestowed this honour to recognise a landmark building that demonstrates best practice for environmental design and effective and best quality construction.

Peter Keam, Building Control Surveyor with Cornwall Council was the Local Authority Inspector for the project. He said "I had no hesitation in nominating this stunning building for the LABC Building Excellence Awards. The building satisfies the most basic requirements of any project brilliantly, namely: Input from its users in the design process, sustainable materials and stunning eye-catching design. I am delighted that it has been recognised as such by the judging panel'David Pierce of Urban Salon Ltd commented, “It’s fantastic that the close working relationship and innovative design and commissioning process embodied in this unique project has been rewarded with an LABC Building Excellence Award.”  It is not the first time that Urban Salon have seen one of their designs recognised, they have previously won awards for other office, retail, education and housing projects.

Cowlin Construction Ltd, who were the main contractor for the build are equally proud of the recognition that the building has received.  Mike O’Neill, regional director of Cowlin in Devon and Cornwall told us: “We were pleased to hand over this new block in September.  It is a huge improvement to the old building which delivers an innovative working space for the students of Falmouth School.  This award recognises their ambition to create a sustainable and eco-friendly space.”

Neil Sherreard, Managing Director of Cowlin Construction South West Division, stated: “This was a rewarding project to be involved in; knowing that the students were seeing all their hard work coming to fruition, and that they were getting a building specifically designed to fit their learning requirements.  This is a prestigious award, we are pleased to have been involved in such an inspiring enterprise and that the efforts of all have been recognised.”

 

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