Learning Spaces

A successful school partnership

New schools are a great opportunity for a community, but they must also be sensitive to the memories which the existing school holds for generations of users. The new Navigation Primary School is a prime example of a successful partnership between the community, local authority, designers and contractor.

Sharon Wright visited one primary school in Trafford which seems to have got the balance right between innovation and shared history.

New schools are a great opportunity for a community, but they must also be sensitive to the memories which the existing school holds for many generations of users. The new Navigation Primary School, which re-opened its doors to its existing pupils after the November half-term 2006, is a prime example of a successful partnership between the community, local authority, designers and contractor which celebrates the past while looking firmly to the future.

The new school

The new £3.25 million school is the result of limited competition held by Trafford MBC for its framework architects, and won by Ansell & Bailey, Chartered Architects in Old Trafford. The new school building, for an entry of one-and-a-half forms, comprises a nursery classroom, two reception classrooms, three Key Stage 1 and six Key Stage 2 classrooms, together with ancillary teaching areas, music room, ICT room and staffrooms. A large hall and adjacent studio have been specifically designed for both school and community use, allowing the school to lock down a lobby, lavatories and small kitchen before entering the hall or studio for after hours’ use.

The school site is situated in Altrincham, in the centre of a residential area. The existing Edwardian school was deemed beyond repair, with rampant dry rot and settlement problems, so a new school was commissioned on the existing school site. This meant re-housing the staff and pupils in a temporary modular school in the adjoining park, in itself a sensitive issue, so a tight construction period reducing the decant time to a minimum was an important consideration.

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