London Borough of Southwark’s ground-breaking SILS3 pupil referral unit (PRU) was announced as a winner at the recent Civic Trust Awards which attracted over 250 national and international entries.
The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in architecture and design, celebrating those schemes which are sustainable, accessible and provide a positive civic contribution.
The new low-carbon, spacious and calming SILS3 PRU in south London for which the judges stated, “the school represents excellence in educational design”, can accommodate over 112 students aged 11 to 14 years who need to be reintegrated into their mainstream classes. With a key focus on sustainability from inception, this BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated scheme utilises a pioneering natural ventilation heat recovery system within its classrooms. Using a passive stack effect in conjunction with heat recovery and advanced controls to ensure optimum ventilation rates in each space, the system reduces both energy consumption and carbon emissions. This also allows secure night-time purging during summer months, reducing the overheating risk and allowing our specialists to design-out mechanical cooling across the majority of the scheme.
Our building services and structures specialists worked in close collaboration with Tim Ronalds Architects and the project team to create a fresh and engaging environment that is conducive to learning and presents a low-running-cost solution.
You can read more about SILS3 here.
