Wooldale Centre for Learning

A national model for the future with world class facilities.

The core of the Centre for Learning is the 1700 place Caroline Chisholm School. There is also a public Learning Resource Centre, two cafés and extensive indoor and outdoor sports facilities.

Each part of the centre responds to user needs, with playfulness in the primary school and sophistication in the LRC.

The whole campus provides a barrier-free environment, with special attention paid to generous circulation areas and minimum number of doors.

Brief

  • create a visionary project within a PFI contract
  • address County Council and Government objectives for inclusive education
  • provide a community hub for sport and lifelong learning

Results

  • the first purpose-built 4 to 18 all-through state school in the country
  • extends the facilities and use of the school as an asset for the community - open outside school hours and at weekends
  • the plan form has influenced the design of many of the nation’s new schools
  • CABE exemplar

Facts

Location: Wooton Fields, Northampton
Client: Kajima Partnerships Ltd/Northamptonshire County Council
Construction cost: £16m
Completed: 2004

Integrated services

architecture, graphic design, environmental engineering, structural engineering, landscape architecture, acoustics