HKR ARCHITECTS HAS BEEN APPOINTED ARCHITECTURAL ADVISORS ON NEW OXFORD ACADEMY
9 Apr 2008

The London office of HKR Architects – the international architecture and design practice – is delighted to have been appointed advisors to Oxfordshire County Council (through the project managers Hewitt Freeborn) on the feasibility and possible layouts for a new Academy in Oxford. The school which it is hoped will be rebuilt on the grounds of the Peers School in Littlemore will be Oxford’s first Academy. The project, which will be publicly funded, will be the largest education project in the Oxford diocese for over 25 years.

The plan for the academy is to re-build a lower performing school where attendance has dropped significantly and rebuild it as a centre of excellence that centres around sport encouraging children to re-engage with their education. It will serve the whole community with vocational courses and placements running alongside GCSE and A-level subjects. The academy will also reach out to the wider community by enrolling adults who wish to further their learning in the adult education centre.

HKR has designed the school around two courtyards, the first being the more public face with the community sports facilities, auditorium and county council library. The second courtyard houses the academic facilities. An integral part of the design process on this development was ensuring the finished plans provided a greener, more open landscape, resulting in a new identity for the school.

Simon Innes lead architect on the project for HKR said “This has been an exciting project for us because the client and sponsor have great experience and strong, imaginative views on the future of education. The project will provide a vital improvement in an area that has suffered many disadvantages”.

Nigel Cunning of Oxfordshire County Council said ‘Simon has created an exciting conceptual solution within a complex set of constraints.’

New Oxford Academy School info issued on behalf of HKR Architects by Crush Communications 120208



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