Aiming for another first
Story by
December 6, 2017
After being appointed by the London Borough of Sutton for a £36 million project to build New Sutton Secondary school, Willmott Dixon is targeting another Passivhaus first.
The company that built the UK’s largest non-residential Passivhaus scheme, the Centre for Medicine for the University of Leicester, aims to follow this by being the first company to deliver the same ultra-high energy efficient standard for a secondary school.
Willmott Dixon will deliver the 6 form-entry school for 1,275 pupils and 95 staff as part of Sutton’s masterplan for the London Cancer Hub (LCH), a new life science innovation cluster focused on cancer research and treatment located at the former Sutton Hospital site.
The school, which will be part of the Harris Federation, integrates secondary school pupils into the campus’s wider remit of scientific research and treatment to inspire pupils to forge a career within life sciences.
Opting for a Passivhaus design will provide pupils and staff with a healthy, optimised learning environment that benefits from the excellent air quality you get with Passivhaus standard buildings, as well as meeting the local authority’s requirements to minimise operational carbon.
Roger Forsdyke, manager director for Willmott Dixon, said: “With our solid track-record for building high-quality, energy efficient properties that conform to the Passivhaus standard, we are proud to have been selected by Sutton to deliver this ground-breaking school. We’ll make sure local companies are used whenever possible and are looking forward to delivering a school that will attract national attention for setting the standard in energy performance.”
