West Coventry Academy is the first of five pilot Net Zero Carbon schools for the Department for Education (DfE).
It was procured through the DfE’s Modern Methods of Construction Framework and is the result of major investment by Bowmer + Kirkland and a three-year research journey by us and our subsidiary company Innovaré Systems.
We have pushed design limits and conventions and transformed processes to enable this project – and others to follow – to achieve NZC at day one in operation.
B+K Framework Delivery Director, James Vaux-Anderson, said: “Our team and our partners have worked exceptionally hard and invested a great deal of time, effort, and resources to get where we are today.
“Together we are setting the trends for simulating the world of NZC buildings. We are increasing the skills of all involved but also challenging our industry to build better spaces and greener places.”
This project is built with Innovaré’s offsite manufactured Psi-FAST system. The result is a net zero carbon in operation building with high performing acoustic attenuation combined with maximising natural light; ultimately providing an optimum learning experience for staff and students.
Increasing Pre-Manufactured Value further improves quality, predictability and performance by including more activities in the factory rather than on site. For example, factory fitting windows and helps to enhance the quality and integrity of important details whilst also accelerating the construction programme.
By manufacturing robust systems in an advanced factory environment, we are eliminating variability and risk, delivering predictable build times, cost efficiencies and enhanced performance in line with DfE specification and net zero carbon objectives.
The £38.4million rebuild of WCA will include a swimming pool and sports facility available for community use. It is one of the first of 100 schools to be upgraded as part of the government’s £2billion, 10-year rebuilding programme. The project will be complete in Spring 2024.