The new Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School has been shortlisted at the 2024 EAA Awards!

Both schools complement and enhance each other, with the nature of a joint campus providing unique opportunities for ways in which the wider community can use and benefit from the many new learning spaces. The design fosters a collaborative and inspirational environment, with flexible spaces adapted to new patterns of learning, whole class collaborative group work, paired learning and individual study.

The landscape design integrates plenty of outdoor teaching spaces for pupils and the improved public realm is open for the wider community to enjoy.

Our interior design team used distinct visual markets to make it very clear to pupils where in the building they are. These colours have been reflected across the whole building, but we have retained the individual identities of both schools by incorporating signage and wall graphics bespoke to each.

The building is not only an exemplar educational setting, but also serves as a valuable resource to the local community. With sports facilities, outdoor spaces and learning lab all fully accessible to the community, the building accommodates the needs of both large groups and individual users alike.

Providing a consolidated approach to learning and skills development, the project supports a clear learner pathway from second-level education through further education and training, towards business enterprise and employment. The learner journey is enhanced significantly through learning pathways across establishments located on a single campus.