St John Bosco Arts College, Liverpool

S I Sealy provided the Stage D+ concept and design for the new St John Bosco Arts College which includes an amphitheatre style performance area which could seat up to 1100 people.  The new college is a three-storey building.  The amphitheatre style performance area is situated within the large three-storey central atrium of the college and was provided with full lighting and sound gantries for various productions.

The overall college was developed to a strict client brief requiring air-conditioned spaces and mechanical ventilation.  The building is provided with 800Kw of gas-fired boiler plant to generate heating and hot water and 800Kw of cooling via heat recovery VRF cooling systems within the classrooms and office areas.

Due to the height available within the atrium, the central amphitheatre was provided with displacement ventilation.  This provides a great degree of free cooling and hence reduces cooling loads and running costs.  The use of free cooling and extensive heat recovery techniques reduced the carbon footprint by over 35%.

St John Bosco Arts College won the RIBA Awards ‘North West Building of the Year’ and ‘Client of the Year’ 2015.