£40m milestone as Team SCAPE supports 1,400 new school places across Derby

SCAPE's in-house architectural practice, Lungfish Architects has successfully partnered with Morgan Sindall Construction to design and deliver some of Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council’s most recent transformative school projects. Since 2019, their collaboration has delivered Hackwood Primary Academy, Castleward Spencer Academy, Highfields Spencer Academy, Ravensdale Infant & Nursery and, most recently, Oak Grange Primary School which is due to open in September 2023.

Procured through SCAPE Construction over the past four years, the completed projects have all been delivered on time, on budget and with an average client satisfaction of score of 9.5/10.

The milestone reaffirms Lungfish’s commitment to creating sustainable and purposeful learning environments that support sustainable community regeneration.

Working closely with each council, Lungfish undertook an extensive research and development study outlining exemplar school design and developing a standardised kit of parts. This standardised approach could be applied to any school site, whilst delivering the council’s educational requirements.

Utilising simplicity and design-led methods, Lungfish has also sought to maximise space. The layout and shape of each school building was carefully designed to suit the day-to-day management, needs, and user flow through the schools to deliver greater efficiency. Each classroom maximises natural day light and encapsulates external views, while unique educational facilities and environments encourages positive and engaging learning environments.

For Castleward Primary School, a constrained inner-city site, the addition of a rooftop play area helped the school achieve more outdoor space than the site would have traditionally allowed, while at Ravensdale Infant and Nursery, every classroom had their own outdoor access for play and lessons outside. New trees and a wild meadow were also installed to create biodiverse learning areas.

Simon Reid, Managing Director at Lungfish Architects, said: “The five school projects mark another important milestone for Lungfish and our commitment to pushing the boundaries of educational design. Creating buildings that improve the lives of communities continues to inspire us and we approach every project with the same mantra."