Loading document...
RECEIVED 04 14 MAR 2008 New Build Extension to form Sports/Multipurpose Hall together with Associated Changing Facilities, Community Room, Replacement Kitchen Facilities, Two Replacement & One New Classrooms, Plus Internal Alterations to Accommodate Improved Dining Facilities and Incorporation of Permanent Nursery Provision in Existing School Building to Replace Existing Mobile Classroom Nursery Provision
At
Victoria Road School, Victoria Road, Castletown, Isle of Man
For
The Isle of Man Government, Department of Education
1.01 The Application Site is Victoria Road School which is situated on Victoria Road and School Lane, in the town of Castletown, Isle of Man. The existing site consists of a two storey building which is constructed of a variety of materials including limestone to the original Victorian building and a mix of smooth and white spar pebble dashed render to the later additions. The form of building is generally pitched roof in nature with natural slate roof finishes, although some later additions are flat roofed and covered in Built up felt roofing. 1.02 The site covers approximately 2.91 acres and is situated on a hilltop location with playground and parking facilities to the West North West of the existing school building, and Sports field facilities to the North East of the existing school building. 1.03 A temporary mobile nursery unit is situated adjacent to the existing school building in the corner of the Sports field area. 1.04 The school has a single car park adjacent to the playground area to the North West of the school building. This car park provides parking facilities for a maximum of fifteen vehicles and is used primarily by the staff of the school with limited space for visitors. There are no formal drop off and pick up facilities for the school in its present form. 1.05 The existing school sports facilities are limited to a single hall which is used for physical education purposes, assembly purposes and performances. This facility is limited to approximately four metres in height and therefore restricts the extent of sports that pupils of the school can partake in. This hall is believed to have been constructed in the late 1930's and has changed little from that period. 1.06 In line with the Department of Educations guidelines for the provision of education, changes within the school in the past three years to provide adequate library and nurture teaching facilities, together with teaching staff resource areas, have resulted in the loss of two classrooms within the school, to provide these enhanced facilities in line with the other primary schools throughout the Island. This has however, resulted in a lack of teaching space to cope with larger intake years, where to avoid excessive class sizes, a year group is split into two forms. It is the Department of Educations desire therefore to redress this deficiency, and to provide flexibility for the provision of education at this site in the future.
2.01 A new Sports/Multi-purpose Hall is provided within the extension, which is sized to accommodate two form entry to the school. The hall has facilities for the storage of both internal and outdoor sports equipment, with access internally and externally. A separate store for grounds maintenance with external access is provided. 2.02 Male and Female Changing rooms are provided, together with shower and w.c. facilities, which can accommodate 15 pupils. These changing facilities are also suitable for public use. 2.03 A Community room is provided, with dedicated storage and kitchen facilities for community use. The room is to be located alongside the sports hall, with a large sliding/folding partition between to allow the use of the community room as a stage area for performances within the hall.
2.04 The extension is to have a public entrance which provides full public access to the new sports hall and community facilities, including disabled access. Disabled w.c. facilities within the new extension are provided. A lift enters off this new entrance area, to provide disabled access to the replacement, new and existing classrooms at first floor level. This lift will be key controlled by staff to prevent mis-use. 2.05 The Kitchen will be replaced within the new extension, with a new primary cook facility, with servery access into the existing assembly hall, which is to be refurbished to provide a multi-function assembly and dining hall. The new kitchen will have all necessary storage and preparation facilities, together with staff changing \& w.c. facilities. The Dining Hall will have suitable acoustic treatment to create an acoustic performance conducive with a comfortable dining experience. 2.06 A new caretakers' office base with adjacent CoSHH store within view of the caretakers' room is to be provided. The office is located close to the public entrance to the new extension, to allow supervision of this entrance in 'out of hours' usage to maximise security. 2.07 Two replacement and one new $54 \mathrm{~m}^{2}$ classrooms suitable for 25 pupils, together with store rooms are to be provided at first floor level between the existing classrooms and the new sports hall. Access to the new classrooms from within the school is obtained by the removal of the existing store room located between two of the existing classrooms, which require replacement store rooms within the new extension. 2.08 Circulation space is provided to the extension, together with a new staircase. This facility provides a secondary means of escape for both the ground floor accommodation and the classrooms at first floor level, and also provides linking circulation to allow for future classroom extensions to the South, should they be required in the future. 2.09 The new extension is capable of being securely separated from the remaining part of the existing school by means of lockable doors to prevent unwanted access. This facility is provided both at ground and first floor level. 2.10 The existing caretakers' office and adjacent stairs are not to be re-used for this purpose, but are identified for additional space for boiler and plant usage as a result of their location next to the existing boiler and plant room. This will be subject to review by the $\mathrm{M}+\mathrm{E}$ consultant in assessing the requirements for $\mathrm{M}+\mathrm{E}$ services. 2.11 The nursery unit is proposed to be accommodated within the area occupied by the existing kitchen and dining hall. This will have access to the existing internal courtyard, which will be refurbished to provide safe play with resilient paving to the majority of the area. Consideration will be given to acoustic treatment to improve the currently poor acoustic quality of the kitchen/Dining area for use as the Nursery. 2.12 Disabled access is to be provided to the Nursery unit from within the school and externally, and such access is also provided to the secure external play area within the existing courtyard via new ramped approaches.
3.01 During the design process, the applicants architect has carried out consultations with a variety of interested parties to establish a basis for the design. These have included; Ms. S Corlett - DoLGE - Planning Officer, Mr D. Sewell - DoT Highways Division - Highways Design Engineer, Mr A. Varley - Fire Safety Officer - Isle of Man Fire \& Rescue Service. The comments raised and advice given within the above consultations have been incorporated into the application proposals.
4.01 New Build Extensions - A new build extension is situated to the North East of the existing building, in the corner of the sports field, in the same location as the temporary mobile nursery classroom, which is to be relocated temporarily to a position in the playground area to the North West of the existing school. The new build extension accommodates the new sports/multipurpose hall together with its storage and changing facilities, and also accommodates the community room, the new kitchen facilities, and the replacement/new classrooms at first floor level. The new build extension is also served by a new public entrance to this sports facility to provide community access out of school hours. 4.02 The new build extension is planned to make best use of the topography of the existing site at this location, and to minimise circulation between the existing building and the extension. Accordingly, the extension is physically joined to the existing building allowing direct links both at ground and first floor level directly to the existing school via existing circulation routes which are amended as required. The new kitchen facilities are located immediately adjacent to the existing assembly hall to allow this to be converted into the new dining hall facilities with direct access via servery hatches to the kitchen.
The kitchen and community room facilities are to be kept at the same internal floor level as the adjacent former assembly area. However, with the use of internal ramps the level of the new public entrance can be provided at existing ground levels and with further ramping down internally to the level for the new sports/multipurpose hall and its associated changing facilities. The effective height of the sports hall is reduced by approximately 675 mm , thereby minimising the impact of this element of the scheme. 4.03 The community room is provided between the new kitchen and the new sports hall and has to one side a sliding folding partition system which when open, forms a natural stage, to provide performance stage facilities for the new hall, thereby negating the need for mobile staging equipment, and thus rendering the new hall suitable for sports, assembly purposes, and performances for use by the school and the local community. 4.04 The new build extension also has within its circulation area, a lift facility which is sized for wheelchair access to the two replacement classrooms and one new classroom in the new build extensions at first floor level, together with the existing three classrooms at this level, and therefore rendering the majority of the school fully accessible for disabled persons. 4.05 The design of the new build extension is traditional in nature, taking the form of masonry external walls, with a pitched roof finished in artificial slate in a size and colour to match the roof of the existing building including terracotta ridge and hip tiles. The masonry walls are proposed to be in a facing architectural masonry in a colour to be complimentary to the limestone facing of the existing building.
It is proposed that plinth, banding and cill details will be employed in contrasting colours to provide a level of detail to the extension which is complimentary to the detail of the original Victorian building. The windows of the proposal are to be in a form and colour to match the existing building as closely as possible. The entrance to the extension is accentuated by a two storey contrasting masonry, with a new projecting gabled entrance porch feature which echoes the three gables of the original Victorian school building in form and feel of detail. 4.06 The mass of the sports/multipurpose hall and the classrooms has been broken down by stepping of the elevation, and by the positioning of single storey elements of accommodation such as the changing facilities and the storage facilities to break up this mass. The mass of the building has also been broken down by breaking the roof line to create visual interest within the roofscape of the extension, utilising hipped roof forms with varying ridge levels.
5.01 It is proposed that the existing nursery unit, which is currently housed in a mobile classroom, will at first be relocated to a temporary location situated close to the existing school within the playground area. However, this mobile nursery unit will be removed from site towards the end of the contract as it is proposed to incorporate the nursery unit within the existing building within the former dining hall and kitchen area. The incorporation of the nursery unit within this area will allow integration of the nursery children within the school, particularly as this location is immediately next to the reception year classrooms. The nursery unit is also adjacent to the internal courtyard which it is proposed to refurbish within this scheme to provide a safe play area for both the pupils in the nursery unit and the pupils in the adjacent reception classroom areas. The conversion works within this area will also create a separate entrance to the nursery unit via the existing exit between the former kitchen and existing reception classrooms. In this way the nursery unit will be provided with a level entrance and its own identity, whilst being in close proximity to the rest of the school.
6.01 Following discussions with Mr D Sewell, the Department of Transport Highways Network Planning Manager, Waterman Borehams Limited, Consulting Traffic Engineers were appointed to carry out traffic surveys and provide highways engineering advice for the scheme. 6.02 Waterman Borehams Limited have subsequently produced a traffic assessment and this is included with the application package. 6.03 The package of highways design proposals includes for the retention of the existing car parking area to the North West of the existing school in an amended format to provide thirteen parking spaces as a drop off and pick up facility for parents of children at the school. This has been designed to provide a one way system with an in-out format in order to keep a traffic flow for the drop off facility. This has been designed in such a way as to maintain access for refuse vehicles collecting from the school, and has necessitated the amendment of the existing on-street parking facilities in School Lane, with double yellow lines being provided towards the junction of School Lane and Victoria Road to maintain a free flow of traffic exiting and entering between Victoria Road and School Lane.
6.04 The on-street parking provision has been amended with two spaces provided in a different location to maintain on-street parking for residents within this area. The drop off/parking area has been designed with a segregated footpath out-with the line of the vehicular area, providing safe means of access both for pupils entering the school via the pedestrian footpath and for pupils being dropped off from cars in the parking spaces. This pedestrian route is continued via a new access ramp to the school entrance providing level access to this location. It is anticipated that this car park will also be used out of school hours by public using the new sports hall or community room facilities. 6.05 Access from the car park can be gained via the new pedestrian ramp to the existing paths along the North West and North East elevations of the existing school up to the new public entrance to the sports facility. However, whilst this is a level access from the point of view of there being no steps, the gradient of the existing path along the North Eastern elevation of the existing school is too steep for disabled access, and therefore alternative means of parking for disabled users of the new facility are provided elsewhere as noted in 6.07 . 6.06 In considering the development of the proposals, care has been taken to provide a segregated entrance and working area for a construction compound during works should the application be successful. It is proposed that a new access will be formed from Morton Hall Road on to the existing playing field at the North Western corner of the playing field area. This new access will be used for construction traffic, the construction compound being segregated from the rest of the school complete with a protected route from the school building to the sports field to allow the continuance of the use of the sports field during the development works of the new build extension. 6.07 It is proposed that to provide parking facilities for staff and parking facilities for disabled users of the sports and community facilities out of school hours, this new access will become permanent, providing vehicular access to a new car park situated to the North East of the new build extension. This car park provides four disabled parking spaces together with twenty parking spaces for staff, and is to be segregated from the sports field by fencing, and protected from misuse by the introduction of a security gate at the entrance from Morton Hall Road. It is anticipated that this entrance gate will be operated either with a proximity reader or a card swipe system for staff use, together with a key pad code system for disabled access purposes. Any disabled person making booking arrangements to use the sports facilities, will be provided with the security key code for access through these gates to the disabled parking facilities. The new car park to the North East of the new build extension is situated on a higher plateau of the sports field which is not currently used for sports purposes, the majority of this area currently being used as a secure play area for the mobile nursery classroom unit, complete with resilient play surface and secure fencing to its perimeter. The provision of the car park at this location therefore has minimal impact on the existing sports field facilities. 6.08 The access arrangements to and from this new entrance are described in Waterman Borehams Consulting Traffic Engineers Report, as are the traffic management arrangements for the new drop off facility to the North West of the existing school adjacent to the existing playground area.
Copyright in submitted documents remains with their authors. Request removal
View as Markdown