Potten End C of E First School Proposed Expansion to One Form Entry Primary Planning Consultation Presentation

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1 EXISTING SITE The school is located in an attractive village with predominately two storey pitched roofed houses, gardens and open common land. The existing school building is more modern in appearance with a large expanse of flat roof. The site is close to two storey dwellings on the north and east sides of the site. There is some noise from traffic only during peak times along The Common. The existing Preschool access the rear of their building through the school site. Play areas include a sizeable amount of banked grassed soft play that is often unusable during winter months. Existing portacabin location for Year 2 pupils blocks off the rest of the site and is very close to the existing building line reducing day light. Any new standalone building will have to consider any potential loss of external space although there is the opportunity for a new site masterplan to mitigate any lossh. The conservation area is defined in blue on the site analysis opposite CONTEXT The project site as highlighted on the map opposite is located within the heart of Potten End adjacent to the C of E Holy Trinity Church and Village Hall. The school currently has 180 pupils on roll (which includes nursery pupils) and 38 members of full and part-time staff. There will be an additional intake of 60 pupils and approximately 4 staff when the school becomes a 1FE primary. The existing site is bounded by the Conservation Area. Pedestrian access to site is via a controlled access gate on Church Road. There is an existing car park providing for 14 parking spaces (using a controlled double parking arrangement) which is also accessed from Church Road. Separate bin/rear kitchen access on The Front. The Common road on the southern boundary runs parallel with external hard and soft play spaces. The existing flat roofed single storey school building dates from the 1960s and is faced in a combination of brickwork panels and glazed curtain walling / windows. External play areas are a mixture of hard and soft landscaping with mature trees and hedges without a sense of unifying masterplan. The nearest house to the eastern boundary is faced in white render with a pitched tiled roof. Access through the school site has been given by the school to the existing Preschool adjacent to the school site on The Common. The proposals consider an alternative form of access for this provider to the eastern side of their building as part of potential site access for a Contractor (temporary cross over to become a permanent pedestrian access) EXISTING SITE

2 TRAFFIC IMPACT HCC commissioned Transport Consultants to prepare a Transport Statement, which assesses the impact of the school going from a 1 form of entry First school to a 1 form of entry primary (60 additional children). The Transport Statement will form part of the planning application. The Transport Statement concludes that the additional vehicular trips connected with the expansion of the school can be accommodated by available capacity within the surrounding road network. However, it is recognised that the additional trips have the potential to put increased pressure on the village highway network. The following measures will be put in place to mitigate the impact of the school expansion: Existing staff car park extended to accommodate 4 additional cars; School Travel Plan updated to incorporate the following measures, subject to agreement with the school: Discourage parents from parking along Church Road; Driver awareness campaigns; Encourage parents to park on roads a little further away from the school; Introduce an ethos of walking, particularly for parents and pupils that live in the village; and Consideration for running a Breakfast Club and an After School Club to diminish the intensity of travel at the current peak times Site Opportunities - 01, 02 and 03 indicate areas considered for new classroom building Proposed Site Strategy PROPOSED DESIGN The Design Team considered, in consultation with the client, key stakeholders, planning representatives and the school, options based on the following principles: Removing the existing portacabin from site to enable the possibility of providing a new building block. Provide a three classroom single storey stand alone building onto the site as Years 2,3 and 4 with a link to the existing building for pupil/staff movement. Creation of a new site materplan / cluster arrangement that would improve the education environment. An agreed classroom cluster arrangement providing 3 classbases with a circulation spine providing break out teaching opportunities, supervision of classbases and a centrally located core. A single storey building with a pitched roof to respond to the local scale and typology. The proposed design achieves all of the above criteria as well as providing a new courtyard space, environmentally preferred north facing classbases and a rationalised site master plan. Proposed New Block Cluster Layout Existing Site Cluster Diagram Proposed Site Cluster Diagram 02 DESIGN APPROACH

3 SITE CONCEPT The proposed building is located to the south of the site, set 3.6 metres away from the existing Preschool. The facing elevation to the preschool is proposed to be solid with no opening windows and far enough away to not to affect the rear fire exit from this building. The proposal creates classroom spaces facing north and the added benefit of the creation of a landscaped courtyard as flexible external space for educational use and pupil group socialising. BUILDING LAYOUT The proposed single storey building is rectangular in plan with a pitched roof containing rooflights to aid natural cross ventilation through classrooms. The building core is logically centrally located to minimise services runs and to aid teacher surpervision. Classroom spaces accessed off the circulation route (which is wide enough for half year group learning or one to one teaching) have been defined with teaching and display walls on the long wall axis with glazed openings facing the courtyard. Proposed Site Plan APPEARANCE Taking into consideration the existing external facing materials in Potten End Village, the proposed material palette echoes colours and materials found locally: White through colour render to the facades Grey coloured zinc standing seam roof echoing the colour of roofs of local houses on The Front Grey powder coated aluminium windows and doors (with black stained timber cladding infill panels) Blue engineering brickwork plinth 03 PROPOSED NEW CLASSROOM BUILDING

4 Standing seam quartz grey zinc roof to match colour of adjacent roofs Facades on The Front Translucent polycarbonate to entrance and canopy Rooflights Existing Site Aerial Photo Proposed Site Aerial Perspective Proposed Site Aerial Photo White through colour render system to match adjacent property Black timber cladding Alu clad timber window system 04 SCALE AND APPEARANCE

5 THERMAL MODELLING The proposed new 3 classroom building to support the 1FE primary requirement has been thermal modelled using recognised software to assess against the SBEM requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations. Thermal model The calculations supports the ventilation and day light intensity requirements for the building type. SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT The sustainability proposals for Potten End First School follow the requirements outlined in Core Strategy Policy CS29. The building has been designed to be adaptable (although it is not conceived currently that the use as Primary School classrooms will change) and is proposed to be designed to an appropriate design life as determined within the client brief. The robust and well tested materials specified consider the requirements to ensure that the whole life cycle of the building is sustainable. Materials utilised will be able to be recycled at the end of the building s life through either the product suppliers policies or through Hertfordshire County Council s waste management procedures. The design has been future proofed to enable retrofitting to meet tighter energy efficiency standards and the services proposals include a renewable energy source utilising photovoltaic panels. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SERVICES DESIGN The design strategy adopted has envisaged that the engineering services will be designed to achieve low energy use. This is achieved by maximising the use of natural and heat recovery ventilation, daylight, renewable energy and for the incorporation of simple user controls hence avoiding the use of complex automation. This approach has been supplemented by the building orientation strategy : north facing classbases and a solid southern elevation to avoid heat gain. Timber slatted brise soleil to the eastern facing feature window seat provides a dual function of limiting heat gain and screening the window away from the adjoining neighbour. Generally the ventilation will be provided by a natural ventilation strategy via opening windows above generous doors to outside facing north and using the benefits of stack ventilation through automatic rooflights to the rear of the classbases and along the circulation/break out teaching spine. Classroom daylight intensity check RENEWABLE ENERGY PROPOSALS In assessing the proposals against the Planning and Building Control guidance and legislation it is proposed to introduce an element of renewable energy source on site which will reduce the end users energy costs. The chosen system is utilisation of photovoltaic panels, installed onto the roof of the new classroom block. Photovoltaic panels harness the sun s solar energy and convert it to electricity. This electricity can be used within the building to reduce the energy imported from the grid. Based upon an available area of 48sq ms of South-facing roof and subject to detailed analysis of shading, it is estimated that the roof could accommodate up to 30 photovoltaic panels with a combined rating of 7.5kWp. Typical photovoltaic panels installation 05 ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY

6 Cross section through new classroom block and courtyard EXISTING AREA PROVISION PROPOSED AREA PROVISION LANDSCAPING The landscape proposals integrating the new classroom block in the existing topography will create a range of unique and defined spaces. The extent of the proposed external works will ensure minimal disturbance to existing structure while ensuring that both the new and existing buildings are suitably connected whilst providing optimum provision for passive outdoor activities. The concept of the courtyard is derived from the requirement to provide somewhere enclosed and calming which promotes educational and social uses. The mound, comprising artificial grass and the relocated commemorative tree, constitutes a central feature, a shaded lawn. The paving material is proposed as concrete paving of a natural colour to harmonise with the existing and new buildings. By contrast the swale, whilst serving as a stormwater attenuation basin, becomes a more adventurous natural environment comprising dynamic earth formations. The Arboricultural Report included within the Planning Application confirms that the existing tree located to the west of the new covered link is not affected by the proposals. In landscape terms, the site comprises disconnected green open spaces used for soft play. There are no sports pitches. There is ample provision for hard play, though these are integrated to some degree with the games courts. Soft Play Areas There are a number of soft play areas around the site, none of which are for sports or formal recreation. The largest continuous area of green open space has little or no value for sports or recreation relating to sports. Other soft play areas are located in disconnected pockets to the north and south west of the existing building. They do not relate well to existing internal spaces in terms of connectivity or function. Opportunities exist to develop external spaces that relate better with the internal functions, i.e. breakout zones adjacent to classes or subject-based education zones. Sports Pitches The school currently has no formal grass pitches and uses the nearby recreation ground for all sports requiring grass pitches. Hard Play It is not anticipated that the proposed development will impact on the existing provision of hard play areas. These are principally located around the existing games courts. Habitat The wildlife garden is in a confined and secluded location to the southwest of the site. Soft Play Areas The proposed development, comprising the new classroom block and courtyard, will be located on the largest continuous area of green open space used for soft play. This loss could be addressed by site-wide approach to develop currently under-used parcels into soft-play areas. This approach would result in a loss of 122m2 of green open space for informal play and socialising. Sports Pitches Although the site currently has a significant area of hard pitches, sports that require grass pitches are currently played on the nearby recreation ground, albeit without a formal agreement. The school is formalising the use of the nearby playing field by means of a license agreement with the Parish Council to ensure they can be used by Potten End C of E School on weekdays from 13:00 until 15:30 within school terms. Hard Play Areas The courtyard will connect the existing and proposed buildings, both having direct access to it. It will be a flexible space for educational use and group socialising. This constitutes a net gain of 288m2. Habitat The existing habitat will be re-instated at the end of the construction period. This will be extended north through the soft play area. Pockets of underused areas will be developed for biodiversity. 06 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS