HILLCREST MASTERPLANNING:
Hillcrest School – Phase 1 Improvements The brief is to provide twelve classrooms and more dining space as existing accommodation at the school is both below standard and not enough for the numbers of pupils attending now and proposed for the future. This will be the first phase of an overall school revamp as part of Dudley MBC’s Schools For the Future programme. Tweedale Architects in Wolverhampton have been working for Hillcrest School and Community College for several years now after successfully designing the Performing Arts Academy building in 2005. This project is in two parts. The first is to construct two new blocks at the front of the school, either side of the existing hall. The one will be a dining hall (as a multi-use space) and the other a three storey classroom block. The other part of the project seeks to replace the lost parking for the dining hall proposal and provide a proper school car park which the school lacks at present. The classroom block is curved to follow the contours of the ground and dug into the embankment to express the hilltop site. A louvred screen forms the frontage, which curves around and links up in front of the dining hall to provide a modern external appearance to lift the whole school. The louvers act as a shading device so that solar gain can be controlled, which is not found in the existing school which gets unbearable in summer. Natural ventilation is proposed to cool the building using the stack effect (chimney) and other environmentally energy efficient measures are being explored so that the school will be at the cutting edge. The dining hall is an extension to the main building attached to the existing kitchen. The space will be a double height space suitable for badminton etc as a multi-use space, with a mezzanine level for viewing, so that the school can use it for so much more than just at lunchtime. Both buildings will be similar in appearance with simple materials to give a modern appearance behind the louvre screen. The other part of the project is to turn the derelict Hurley’s Fold area to the east of the school on Hill Street, into a proper car park for both school staff during the night and community use in the evening for the sports centre. This will resolve issues of local residents of inconsiderate on-road parking in the evening and anti-social behaviour taking place on Hurleys Fold due to it’s condition. As well as a car park and new pedestrian link into the school, it is proposed to keep an open area to give a green frontage to Hill Street, provide a habitat for local nature and a link through to the nature area to the rear. The consultants are all local to the area and experienced in education projects.
