Elmgreen School, Lambeth, London

Client: Carillion
Architect: Scott Brownrigg
Type of works: supply and installation of bespoke roof glazing and mono pitch rooflights.

Elmgreen School in Lambeth, London, is a non-denominational mixed secondary school, catering for 11 to 18 year olds. By 2013, this specialist humanities college will have 900 students aged 11 to 16, and a 200-place sixth form.

Elmgreen School is the first parent-promoted school in the country, so the challenge was to design and build a school that meets the needs of parents, governors, teachers, pupils and the local community. Working safely and productively on a very small site also posed particular challenges. The area around the site was only just wide enough for vehicles to pass, so contractors had to work tidily, swiftly and effectively together. The restrictions of working on such a confined site, and the logistics of keeping part of the school in operation whilst ensuring the main build progressed smoothly and was completed on schedule, required careful planning and co-operation between all parties.

The design had to incorporate important safety features in order to minimise the possible impact of any accident. The mono pitch rooflights were therefore designed to be non fragile, and the glass was manufactured to resist the impact of a falling person.

Scott Brownrigg has consistently been in the top 20 UK architectural practices over the last few years. Together with Carillion they chose SkyLight Solutions to provide the glazing because of their successful completion of previous contracts, excellent supply chain relationships and unceasing attention to detail. SkyLight Solutions worked closely with the architects to create an innovative yet affordable and functional school building. The large glazed marketplace consists of over 1,300m² of bespoke roof glazing. The individual rooflights are
designed to be non-fragile in compliance with ACR[M]2001.

For the market square areas SkyLight Solutions selected the Schüco FW60+ glazing system using high-performance glass from Pilkington. The glazing consisted of 6mm clear heat-soaked toughened Pilkington ACTIV glass with a 16mm argon gas cavity with silicone edge seal and an 8.8mm clear Pilkington THERM S3 Low-E laminated inner.

The new school design consists of a library at the heart of the school, overlooking a large central marketplace surrounded by the main hall, activities studio and restaurant. The area was glazed to allow maximum light, and to encourage interaction and communication between pupils and teachers between classes.

The new school opened as planned in September 2009 and everyone is delighted with the building. It is extremely modern, light and airy and its innovative design makes it not only a great place to work and learn, but also an impressive landmark in Lambeth.

“SkyLight Solutions worked well with the rest of our team on a very tight and challenging building and site. They always provide top quality
workmanship with faultless attention to detail. I look forward to working with them again soon on future projects and would recommend them highly.” Andy Hand, Project Director, Carillion

“Accommodating the new school building, sports pitches and recreation areas on a site with very restricted space was particularly challenging. We are delighted with the finished school building and excellent quality glazing provided by SkyLight Solutions. The amount of light and space created gives the school a very airy, friendly and welcoming feel.” Valerie Cooper, Architectural Director, Scott Brownrigg