Brunel Academy, Bristol

Project Overview: Bristol Brunel Academy was the first secondary school in the UK to be completed as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme and was opened by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in September 2007. The existing school has since been demolished and extensive landscaping introducedaround the new development. With a specialism in communications, the academy now accommodates 1,100 students. he academy takes the form of a three-storey block of accommodation, anchored by a large sports hall and assembly hall at each end and split centrally to create two distinct banks of educational space arranged about a central atrium or street. These are connected by a series of internal footbridges and generous perimeter walkways. A leisure facility is located in a 'cranked' wing of accommodation at ground floor level, the academy actively encouraging community use of this and the new external sports provision.