The Academy provides a striking presence ringed by the Westway, the railway and high rise local authority estates. To enter the building you arrive in a generous open area, an inner courtyard that rises up through the building. The basic organisation is teaching and support spaces around the edges with a large full height court at the centre. The arrangement allows high levels of visibility for both staff and students. The graphic signage contributes a level of spirited corporate identity that traditional schools lack.

Externally the treatment of the façade, using green banded aluminium panels produces a building of very singular identity that suggests a commercial rather than institutional user. The staff and governors who were highly involved in the development of core ideas are immensely excited and proud of their building.