Financial close has been reached for the financing, design and construction of the redeveloped Deptford Green School, which was designed by award winning architects Watkins Gray International for Costain Ltd and the Learning 21 LEP.

 Located in New Cross, South East London, the £27m new build project, which is part of Lewisham‘s BSF programme, will create a 11,600 m2 school able to accommodate 1300 pupil places, including accommodation for 25 children with dyslexia. The facility will replace an existing three storey Victorian school building. 

 The Education Vision for the project is distinctive and particular for Deptford Green School, which specialises in Humanities, including English and Drama.  

The design features include larger than standard classrooms offering flexible teaching formats, the organisation of the majority of teaching spaces into four distinct learning zones aimed at the different student age groups, and a dining area that is part of the social and circulation space which is central to the school.  

Meanwhile, the school hall, which also operates as a conference centre and auditorium, forms the heart of the facility and symbolises the key role that the student voice and the concept of citizenship plays in school life. 

Central to the design concept are energy efficient systems and installations, including solar shading to windows, high levels of thermal insulation, and use of energy recovery systems, with heating provided by a bio-mass boiler.  The school will achieve 60% carbon reduction, and is aiming for a BREEAM Excellent rating.  

Roy Caddick, partner, Watkins Gray International comments:  

“The new design for Deptford Green School responds to its urban and social context providing an open and inviting building within the heart of the community, at the same time creating a state of the art, flexible teaching environment for 21st Century Learning. 

 “The completed building will also provide shared community spaces, particularly the sports facilities, with a separate community entrance and integrated landscaping. 

“In addition to its central role in the community, the school also has close ties with Goldsmiths College and the adjacent Fordham Park, and these relationships were a key briefing requirement of the design concept”. 

 Planning consent was granted by the London Borough of Lewisham earlier this year, and the school is expected to be completed by July 2012.  

 Project team:

 Contractor – Costain

Planning Consultant - Savills

Quantity Surveyor – Gardiner & Theobald

Structures – Ramboll

M & E – Bryden Wood McLeod

Landscape Architects – MacFarlane Wilder

Acoustics – Sound Research Laboratories

Fire Consulting – Safe Consulting

BREAAM Consultant – Price & Myers

Learning 21 is the LEP for Lewisham, and is made up of Costain and VT Group, together with London Borough of Lewisham.