This project is being commissioned by Bristol City Council under its Local Education Partnership contract using a traditional procurement route. The project involves the construction of a new building incorporating an existing mobile classroom block (moved from another site), to accommodate three reception and three Year 1 classes. This will allow additional Year 2-6 classes to be provided on the Cotham Grove site.

The intention is to refurbish the classrooms on the existing site, and redevelop the playground to better suit the needs of older age groups (under a separate contract after the completion of the new building).

The new school, located on a site at Elmgrove Road, will be a two storey building that will enable direct access to the outside from both floors. In addition to the six classrooms, the accommodation will include a hall (for sports, dining and assembly), a full service kitchen, offices and a flexible activities room. The external space will be an important part of the design and will provide opportunities for a wide variety of formal and informal play.

The DQI Briefing stage workshop gathered a good cross section of project stakeholders and managed to: record aspirations and priorities by creating a bespoke set of weightings for the assessment statements (RDI weightings), capture notes on issues and expectations and raise awareness of the DQI process, the tools and the assessment stages.

A number of issues emerged from the workshop, which stakeholders would like to see prioritised and addressed, such as lighting, parking facilities and accessibility. A summary outlining the school’s main priorities was given to the design team to help with the continuing design of the new building.

At the Mid Design stage workshop, which was held a few months after the Briefing record, the design was marked consistently high by participants, and there were more positive than negative points brought up in discussions. Although there were still some issues to be addressed, in general stakeholders felt the project was achieving its aims and requirements agreed in the Briefing workshop.

Image: http://www.candsp.co.uk/colstons-primary-school.html