Notes to editors

1. For images and further information please contact Mina Vadon in the RIBA Press Office on 07805 173681, 020 7307 3761 or mina.vadon@inst.riba.org
2. Full citation follows:
   The MinsterSchoolSouthwell, Nottinghamshire

Architect:                       Penoyre & Prasad LLP

Client:                           The Minster School

Contractor:                    Galliford Try Construction

Structural Engineer:        Buro Happold

Services Engineer:          Buro Happold

Project Manager:            Gleeds Management Services

Quantity Surveyor:         Gleeds Cost Management

Contract Value:              £28.9 million

Date of completion:       Sept 07

Gross internal area:         13837 sq m

 

The highly functional design of The Minster School in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, is the result of close consultation between the architects and the school, and is highly sympathetic to the local community. In the design for this relocated secondary school for 1600 pupils with high-quality performance spaces, the architects have created a facility which clearly inspires its users.  Working with a brief which provided exceptional opportunities, and with a strong ethical drive generated by Governors, staff and pupils alike, the architects have synthesized the elements of the building in a beautifully resolved manner. There is continuity and consistency throughout a design in which each element is thoughtfully incorporated into a coherent composition. Familiar materials have been selected and subtly crafted into a magical mix of more than the sum of their individual parts. The building adopts a palette of materials: brick and timber, hard and soft surfaces and colours, which connects it both to the scale and texture of the town and to that of the open countryside.  The architecture has clear navigation, with interconnected and flexible spaces, strong linkage between inside and out and appropriate orientation, creating light and airy spaces.  Circulation spaces are rhythmical, with alternating use of low and high ceilings. It is evident that the new building has created a sense of aspiration in the pupils.  The design takes a thorough and robust approach to sustainability, incorporating natural stack ventilation, high levels of insulation, underfloor heating with high-efficiency boilers and uses rainwater recycling to reduce water consumption. The RIBA Sorrell Foundation judges were particularly impressed with the deliberate flexibility of its spaces, pointing out that ‘when a school goes through the journey of modernising learning, it needs classrooms like these which are highly adaptable’.  They thought that the beauty of the design lay in its detail. ‘From the unique locker design to the wheelchair-height water fountains’, they said, ‘it is clear that so much care has gone into it’.  They added: ‘The new school has a bright and interested pool of pupils to draw on, and they are clearly making good use of the opportunity because the resulting anatomy works very convincingly.’

 

3. The RIBA Stirling Prize is a ‘built or designed in Britain’ prize, for which only buildings in the UK by RIBA chartered members and International Fellows, or buildings in the rest of the EU by practices whose principal office is in the UK, are eligible. The £20,000 RIBA Stirling Prize is fully funded by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation.

 

4. The RIBA Trust manages the cultural assets of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), including the internationally recognised collections of the British Architectural Library. It is the UK’s national architecture centre, delivering the RIBA Awards and RIBA Stirling Prize (broadcast on Channel 4); the Royal Gold Medal; International and Honorary Fellowships; RIBA partnership in architecture festivals; a full programme of lectures, exhibitions, tours and other events; and an education programme.

 

5. 2009 marks the 175th anniversary of the founding of the RIBA. To celebrate this milestone the Institute is holding a programme of special events throughout the year that aim to show the breadth of our activities throughout the world of architecture, and engage an even wider public and celebrate the benefits to society of good design. For further information visit www.architecture.com