Plans to demolish and rebuild New Oscott Primary School in Sutton Coldfield have been approved by Birmingham City Council. Designed by CPMG Architects, the plans will transform the existing single-storey building into a purpose-built two-storey school with a sustainability specification including net zero carbon in operation. The school, located near to the historic Sutton Park, is home to more than 630 pupils with three classes per year group, alongside a 58-place nursery, and is set to offer an enhanced learning environment. This is to be achieved through a layout that has been tailored to the school’s needs, improved daylight and ventilation and a wealth of high-quality outdoor spaces to create a greater connection to nature and physical activity. Tom Ridley-Thompson, associate at CPMG Architects, said: “The New Oscott Primary School rebuild will enable a high-quality educational offering to continue. It is a highly successful school and we aim to make sure the building reflects expectations. “We know that schools built to the latest wellbeing and sustainability standards have a positive impact on student experience, so we’re pleased to be involved and helping schools reach important milestones in their journey to a new era.” The sustainability commitment is demonstrated by the use of a green roof combined with a large array of solar panels, as well as a new sustainable drainage system that will provide attenuation for surface water during heavy or prolonged rain events. The highly energy-efficient design also includes air source heat pumps, high levels of insulation and airtightness. To ensure the new school building fits into its surroundings, the brickwork at a low level matches the brickwork used in many surrounding houses. The light-coloured render at a high level also ties in with many local examples. The lightness of the finishes also helps to reduce the building overheating. Alongside CPMG Architects, the main contractor Tilbury Douglas’ project delivery team includes Hexa Consulting, David Paradine, Green Webb, Ares Consulting, Q+A Planning, Hoare Lea and OFR Consultants. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

The ID Manchester partnership has announced plans to reactivate the Renold Building as a home for forward-thinking entrepreneurs and SMEs to develop new ideas and solutions that help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. This marks the initial phase of ID Manchester’s ambitious plan to transform The University of Manchester’s former North Campus into a welcoming and accessible new £1.7bn innovation district. The new vision for the Renold Building will celebrate its history as an educational hub by hosting the next wave of science and technology innovators and building an inclusive, purpose-driven community. The building will provide a range of coworking, office and meeting facilities to accommodate and support collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses and partner organisations. New events and exhibition spaces, including lecture theatres and a community café, will be accessible to local businesses, community groups and arts and culture organisations to host and participate in events and activities. An application to convert the building from educational to commercial use has been submitted to Manchester City Council by joint venture partners The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech. Pending application approval, the building is set to open in late 2024. Built in 1962, the Renold Building was the first of its kind in the UK to be entirely comprised of lecture theatres and seminar rooms. It is a building of note for many due to its striking features, including the faceted facade and stair tower, and the impressive internal mural on the lower ground floor. The redevelopment will retain and protect these elements as part of the application, as well as being sympathetic to the building’s exterior facades. Design interventions in the building’s interior will also be light touch, preserving the current condition as far as practically possible. This will allow for further conservation and restoration to be undertaken at a later date, ensuring the building will remain viable for future generations. Bradley Topps, Chief Commercial Officer for Bruntwood SciTech and Project Director for ID Manchester, said: “The transformation of the Renold Building into an innovation hub marks an important first step in the development of the trailblazing science and technology ecosystem we’re building at ID Manchester. We recognise the importance of the Renold Building to many in the local community and beyond, and we are committed to reactivating the building in a way that celebrates the rich heritage and architecture of the building. We’re very excited to be creating a new home for the next generation of Manchester innovators.” John Holden, Associate Vice-President, The University of Manchester and Executive Committee Member for ID Manchester, said: “The Renold Building will be an invaluable place to bring together like-minded organisations and partners to collaborate, develop and test new ideas. We’re building our innovation ecosystem from the ground up and the Renold Building will be a place that not only accelerates the growth of our city’s most promising entrepreneurs, SMEs and university spin-outs, but also provides the spaces and opportunities to allow our local communities to participate, experience and benefit from innovation too.” The expertise and experience of ID Manchester’s respective partners will be instrumental to the creation of its innovation ecosystem. Bruntwood SciTech, a joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater Manchester Pension Fund, is the largest dedicated property platform serving the UK’s innovation economy and brings its expertise in developing partnerships across academia, local authorities, cities and the NHS. This year marks The University of Manchester’s bicentenary, celebrating 200 years of key discoveries, world firsts and incredible people, and ID Manchester will build on this storied history of learning, innovation and research. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Construction work has started on a new pioneering joint education campus, to be located in the Fairwater area of Cardiff. The £110 million project is the largest in scale and investment, of Cardiff’s education developments delivered under Cardiff Council and Welsh Governments Band B Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. The development will include the construction of three new build schools for Cantonian High School, Riverbank School and Woodlands High School, all situated on a single site. The ground was cut at the site by Wales’s First Minister Mark Drakeford, Cardiff Council’s Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas and Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Sarah Merry. They were joined by Head of School at Cantonian High School, Geraint Jones and Chair of Governors Barbara Connell together with Executive Headteacher, Wayne Murphy and Chair of Governors Bianca Rees from the Western Learning Federation, of which Riverbank School and Woodlands High School are both a part of. Also in attendance were representatives from HLM Architects and ISG the contractors chosen to undertake the detailed design and build for the scheme. The development will be Net Zero Carbon in line with Welsh Government standards and will set the standard for future Cardiff school projects. Each of the three schools will be highly energy efficient buildings that are powered from renewable energy sources, enabling Cardiff to deliver on its One Planet Strategy, which outlines the city’s ambition to mitigate climate change. In March 2023, Cardiff Council announced that ISG was selected as the preferred bidder for the design and build of the new joint education campus, to be located in the Fairwater area of the city. ISG has now undertaken the detailed design process for the scheme and delivered the temporary accommodation associated with the works, ahead of the build. It will now build the remainder of the Net Zero Carbon campus, which will target significant reduction in operational and embodied carbon. This means the three schools will be highly energy efficient buildings that are powered from renewable energy sources, enabling Cardiff to deliver on its One Planet Strategy which outlines the city’s ambition to mitigate climate change. The new campus will include the replacement of the Cantonian High School buildings with new build accommodation on the same site expanding the school from six forms of entry (6FE) to eight forms of entry (8FE) with sixth form provision for up to 250 pupils, the expansion of the Specialist Resource Base (SRB) for learners with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), hosted at Cantonian High School to 30 places in purpose built accommodation in the new school building, the relocation of Woodlands High School and Riverbank School to the Fairwater Campus site from its current site adjacent to Trelai Park, with an increased capacity to 240 places for Woodlands and 112 for Riverbank in new build accommodation. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals