Shrewsbury school's zero carbon teaching hub nearing completion
A new ‘state of the art’ teaching hub at Meole Brace School in Shrewsbury is nearing completion following several months work.
The new two-storey building will form the language teaching ‘hub’ for Meole Brace School. Five classrooms will be provided along with a small group meeting room, a staff room, toilets and storage and the building will also be ‘zero-carbon’ and consume little energy.
Cabinet member, Kirstie-Hurst Knight, was among councillors who visited the site recently.
She said: "This will be a fantastic new facility for Meole Brace School. Pupils will benefit from a state-of-the-art learning environment and the very latest facilities to help make sure they get the best possible outcome from their education.
“The new teaching hub at Meole Brace School is one of several projects we are investing in to secure high-quality and sustainable provision of primary and secondary places in Shrewsbury and surrounding areas.”
Designed by Shropshire Council’s Property services Group and contracted to Read Construction, the building is one of the first to drive the change towards more sustainable projects to meet the council’s 2030 carbon targets, by consuming very little energy and being carbon zero.
Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for climate change, natural assets and the green economy, Councillor Ian Nellins said: "As a rural county we have a huge part to play in achieving net zero carbon emissions, and it’s important that we all work together to make it happen. Addressing the impact of climate change has been adopted as one of the council’s key operational principles.
“We’re working in partnership with many local businesses and communities to develop a wide range of carbon management projects and initiatives which will help us all reduce our contribution to the carbon footprint of the wider county, as well as ‘leading by example’ by improving our own performance.
“We’re therefore delighted about the new teaching hub’s environmental credentials. It’s excellent to be part of a project that could help set the standard for future buildings and significantly contribute to our climate change ambitions.”
The new teaching hub, designed by Shropshire Council’s Property services Group and contracted to Read Construction, is scheduled to be completed later in the year.
It was originally intended to open at the start of term, but last month the school said they would not be ready due to "unforeseen issues", and applied to Shropshire Council for planning permission to be urgently granted for three temporary buildings to be installed.
The Meole Brace School development programme will include further expanding the secondary provision of school places in Shrewsbury. It is already taking in additional pupils over and above their published admission number.
The project forms part of significant investment to expand primary school and secondary provision across Shrewsbury to meet the increasing demand for pupil places across the town and surrounding areas.
The Shrewsbury School Places Programme also includes the Haughmond Federation new build at the Harlescott Junior School site on Featherbed Lane, and the new primary and special schools in Bowbrook, off Squinter Pip Way.
