Tilbury Douglas to rebuild Derby primary school

The new St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Broadway, Derby, is set to be the first purpose built biophilic primary school in the UK.

The design is part of a pilot scheme for the Department for Education (DfE).

Biophilia is an approach that focuses on biodiversity through design. The new school will be net zero carbon in operation. It will have five single storey buildings, connected by covered walkways, made predominantly from timber with structurally insulated panels.

Building services will include air source heat pumps and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Some of the roofs will be green wildflower seeded.

Tilbury Douglas has been involved with the project for more than a year. It subsidiary Tilbury Douglas Engineering will be delivering the mechanical and electrical engineering works.

Simon Butler, managing director of building central at Tilbury Douglas, predicted the project would “influence the next generation of school design”.

Costs have yet to be disclosed.

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