Oaklands was conceived as a new secondary, post-16 and young adult school to provide places for up to 224 pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties. Dowds delivered full M&E installations to Oaklands SEN and the scheme met the target of the environmental standard of BREEAM ‘very good’ and was designed and delivered to meet BIM level 2.
Dowds delivered full M&E installations to Oaklands SEN and the scheme met the target of the environmental standard of BREEAM ‘very good’ and was designed and delivered to meet BIM level 2. Facilities included Specialist provision for children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD), Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a warm-water Swimming Pool and a specialist Hydrotherapy Pool, 3G MUGA pitch and synthetic track for shared community use, Sensory garden & Horticultural Area, Sensory Theatre providing stimulatory, interactive and relaxing activities and The OK Café, a training café run and staffed by 6th form students
The live school site required compliance to adhere 90KMP PV array installed on the roof, significant AV installation in the sports hall and music studio, evacuation lifts installed and sensory rooms within the building installed to specific DDA requirements.
Passive measures, including solar shading and solar control glazing, were employed to control internal temperatures, with the building management system providing features including weather compensation and energy metering and monitoring to optimise energy usage. Photovoltaics and a combined heat and power (CHP) system allowed us to offset 35% of CO2 emissions.
A significant design challenge was the level of noise pollution around the site, including traffic noise from the main roads and Heathrow Airport. The acoustics plan was of critical importance and was dealt with successfully to create a calm and inspirational teaching environment that is essential for the learning of all, and especially SEN students.
