Brookfields SEN School, Reading

We worked with Extraspace Solutions on this project, a Key Stage 5 modular building extending over 800m2 and including a 100m2 covered external patio area. The building was specifically designed to cater for the special needs of young adults aged 16 – 19. In order to incorporate a sustainable and accessible design sensory rooms, PMLD (Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties) and SLD (Severe Learning Difficulties) classrooms are included. Ceiling mounted personnel hoists were installed in PMLD Classrooms and in the fully fitted out wet room/accessible bathroom. The building also features bright and spacious corridor areas and ramped access routes. The structure has been future-proofed to allow for the increase in use of such mechanisms, as well as a second floor at a later stage.

The new Key Stage 5 building is linked to the existing school via a 15m fully glazed link corridor which allows all pupils and staff free and easy access to the new facility.

Brookfields Special School Phase 2

We worked with Extraspace Solutions on a phase 2 project for this school, having worked together on the previous project. This second phase provided a first floor classroom extension to the existing school with four new classrooms and ancillary space.

This first floor extension includes five new teaching spaces incorporating bespoke science and art teaching facilities. The design was primarily focused on the extension (upward) of the existing ground floor.

At the planner’s suggestion, cedar cladding was added as an external finish, which removed the modular appearance of the extension and delivered an aesthetically enhanced building. The combination of vertical and horizontal cedar finish offered a particularly attractive finish. The building is of steel framed modular construction with composite roof panels and timber framed walls. The building is clad with site applied render.