We secured this £30m secondary school project for Cardiff City Council in February 2017 as part of the Willmott Dixon two stage procurement bid. The new school is located on the site of the former Glyn Derw High School on Penally Road, Ely, Cardiff and is intended as a major investment in the local community. The school caters for 1,200 11-16 pupils plus 320 post-16 pupils and is designed to be accommodated in three separate but closely linked two story buildings. The design builds on our recent experience at Eastern Community Campus High School and develops our philosophy in relation to multi-functional spaces, natural daylight/ventilation and the creation of a "one-school" ethos. This school separates the 11-16 building from the post-16 building to encourage pupils to progress to post-16 education - the post-16 building is therefore designed with a more collegiate feel.
The site layout groups the buildings around a publicly accessible plaza, to encourage community access and engagement with the school. The playing fields are linked to the adjacent public Trelai Park and includes a 3G pitch, grass pitches and extensive external hard play, combined with social spaces and external classrooms/performance areas.
The project started on site in September 2017 and will be completed early in 2019.