Riddlesden St Marys School – Warm Envelope to Courtyard (1222)

An existing courtyard had been roofed over with an un-insulated roof, this leaked and suffered from condensation. Daylighting was via a single-pane glazing system. Nearby thermal solar roof panels were mounted on frames on the flat roof.

As the flat roof would need maintenance in the medium term these panels needed to be moved to a new position. Gutters were congested and frequently flooded. The solution was to reuse the existing structure to provide a double-pitch roof forming glazed gables to the East and West. These double-glazed windows open for ventilation and provide welcome views out to the sky from this deep-plan building.

A perimeter bulkhead was formed internally to accommodate a generous gutter; it doubles as a bulkhead for low-level interior lighting.

Electric Lighting is via recessed  LED down lighters and face-fixed bulkheads, there is provision for a couple of feature chandeliers to be provided in the future. The funds were diverted to a new floor finish and double-sealed manhole access cover.

An Ecophon Acoustic “Advanage A” suspended ceiling was provided for the long bulkheads and the sloping ceilings.

A similar upgrade of roof-light insulation and ventilation and day-lighting was performed on the existing roof-lights dotted all across the school at the same time