Façade features in ‘world’s best school.’
December 2015

The Pegasus Academy in Croydon, named ‘the best school in the world’, and with a number of awards for architecture and design, features a series of architectural aluminium glazing systems from TECHNAL.

Whitehorse Manor Junior and Infant Schools were extensively remodelled and expanded to create an inspiring academy in a £4.5m project. An innovative design by architects Hayhurst & Co brought together a fragmented site with a series of extensions to a complex fabric of 20th century school buildings. The new facilities included a nursery, six classrooms, a larger hall, and an entrance and office areas that link two existing buildings.

Fabricated and installed by Everglade Windows, a range of Technal’s façade systems were specified for both phases of the project:

• Fixed light windows in varying sizes were installed into the building’s striking gold shingle cladding and into the pitched roof for the nursery.

• Ribbon windows wrap around the nursery, set into curtain walling, to maximise natural light.

• Sloped glazing was constructed from Geode-MX curtain walling for the stairwells with complex detailing to the corner edges to meet the architects’ design criteria.

• Geode-MX grid curtain walling was used on all elevations and to provide roof glazing above the new entrance, with casement window inserts for natural ventilation.

• Casement door systems in both manual and automatic configurations were supplied for the main entrance into curtain walling, and for access to the courtyard, nursery and upper floor play deck.

Nick Hayhurst, Director at architects Hayhurst & Co said, “This was a complex façade project with some challenging geometry. We used a combination of floor-to-ceiling glazing and individual windows to bridge the ground and first floors. We are very happy with the finished building and would definitely use Technal again for future projects.”

The AR School Awards celebrate ‘the most exciting places of learning in the world’. The global search included submissions from as far afield as Portugal, China and Afghanistan. The judges, praised the project’s ‘material beauty’ and ‘its spatial configuration’. adding ‘The interventions have transformed a Victorian school into something that feels incredibly contemporary and incredibly liberating’.

The Whitehorse Manor project has also been recognised with a Civic Trust Award, an RIBA Award (London category), the Schools Award in the AJ Retrofit Awards, and Best Public Sector Interior at the FX International Interior Design Awards.

www.technal.co.uk