In 2018, the expansion of Kettering highlighted a shortfall in secondary school places for the town and surrounding areas. Northamptonshire County Council approached Southfield School with an expansion proposal to increase their intake by an extra 240 pupils and the school accepted.
Sursham Tompkins & Partners were chosen for their wealth of experience in the educational field to design and deliver the project. Working in collaboration with the school, a feasibility study was completed and it was decided the best solution for the school was to construct a new 2000m² Sixth Form Building to re-locate the existing Sixth Form facilities into a state of the art, purpose-built facility. Two old mobile classrooms and a dated study building were removed to make way for a new two-storey building containing 10 Classrooms, Offices, a 240 seat lecture theatre, a bespoke ‘Costa Style’ Café and a glazed undercroft providing a multi-functional learning/social area for students, all within the NCC budget of £4million.
Sursham Tompkins Director Mark Croxen led a design team of BCAL Structural & Civil Engineers, Parsons Associates M&E Consultant and Tompkins Robinson Quantity Surveyors. Despite Covid restrictions and unforeseen site issues the project was delivered on budget, on time and to a standard of design and finish beyond the Schoolsexpectations.
Numerous design elements along with material specification, LED sensor controlled lighting, highly efficient ventilation systems and photovoltaic roof array panels were all employed to meet the school’s requirements for a highly insulated and energy efficient green building.
The result is a contemporary and ecologically friendly building that offers the school flexibility as well as a high quality architectural design.
Gareth Butcher, Deputy Headteacher at Southfield School said:
“The new building is a perfect reflection of our ethos and vision for the Sixth Form and our students. It provides an ideal bridge from school to university and the wider world. The number of students applying to come to our Sixth Form has increased since the building opened last September. Our students are rightly proud of the building and prospective students are quick to see the benefits of joining our Sixth Form. We have been absolutely delighted with the final build. It is a testament to the professionalism and adaptability shown throughout the project by Sursham Tompkins and partners despite the challenges faced over the last 12 months.”
Since opening the Sixth Form Building the school has received record number of pupil applications.
Sursham Tompkins have also recently been the Lead Consultant for the £2.6M new Sports Building/ 5G Football Pitch at Latimer Arts College in Barton Seagrave, and the £3.6M Classroom and Lecture Theatre for Sir Christopher Hatton Academy in Wellingborough.
