GSSArchitecture were commissioned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia to completely remodel and extend the St. John Fisher Catholic High School, a co-educational secondary school in Peterborough.
The new development features many sustainable building techniques such as ground source heat pumps, solar hot water collectors and a wind turbine. New facilities include: new classrooms, a library, sports hall and an all-weather pitch, with music, drama and ICT rooms placed around a courtyard garden.
Two of the large new buildings were constructed from cross-laminated timber panels, which not only resulted in dramatic reductions in construction timescales but also achieved significant financial savings. The shells of both buildings were erected in just six weeks: a saving of 14 weeks compared with traditional construction methods, and the project is considered to be the largest of its type in the country.
The project achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’, and is also the winner of the International Green Apple Award for the Built Environment 2010.
