Great ventilation from Gilberts Blackpool is making a vital contribution towards health, wellbeing and learning capability for children at a Yorkshire special school.

Hilltop School in Maltby caters for children from 2 – 19 with severe learning difficulties and has served the community from the same building for many years, responding to increasing demand for specialist school places across the region.

Nexus Multi Academy Trust, the trust responsible for Hilltop, aspires to be the best it can be, throughout each of its schools. To deliver that dream, Nexus teamed up with Yorkshire Children’s Charity to implement the £3.5m “Big Build” refurbishment and upgrade to the premises.

When we learnt about the project and its ambitious scale, we had to get involved, bringing our support to M&E services contractor SES Ltd by providing all the air delivery units (ADUs) needed to assure excellent indoor air quality throughout the reconfigured and new build premises.

Aware of the project’s huge financial constraints, it was decided that we would cover the cost of the ADUs ourselves and donate them free of charge.

Good ventilation is critical for any pupil. It increases alertness, focus, engagement and interaction. But we needed to be mindful of the bespoke requirements for ventilation in a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) school.

Noise, for example, can be a trigger: our grilles and diffusers needed to supply and extract air as silently as possible.

The temperature needs to be constant and draught-free.

CO2 levels need to be within the specific parameters dictated by Building Bulletin 101.

We took all of these air distribution factors into consideration in determining the most appropriate grilles and diffusers for Hilltop School to interface with the mechanical ventilation with heat recovery -the most energy efficient means of controlling the ambient indoor air quality and temperature taking into account the design and layout of the school.

Our deliberations led us to supply our louvre-faced ceiling diffusers (DGA) to supply air throughout the school. Our four-way blow option means a standard unit is used throughout, with each diffuser having the capability to deliver air in the most effective directions within the space and change that air frequently to address changing humidity levels depending on activities below.

Our eggcrate (GECA) grilles efficiently and quietly remove the stale air.

We also supplied grilles above doors to provide air transfer throughout the internal spaces. Air valves in the toilets further maintain a pleasant environment for the children.

Warren Carratt, Chief Executive of Nexus Multi Academy Trust, said: “The magic that happens inside our Hilltop school is often in stark contrast with the fabric, design, and layout of its 1970s CLASP build, so we’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Yorkshire Children’s Charity to name our school as the recipient of the Great Yorkshire Build. The new school will enhance our learning environment significantly, meaning some of our society’s most vulnerable learners will feel the benefit directly.

We are beyond grateful to all those who have secured the resources to make this happen. The improvements in ventilation will make a huge difference to our learners all year round, and especially in light of the warmer summers we’re now expecting. Demand for special school places has never been higher, so this work will create more high-quality choice for many families and will give us a site that is a beacon of good practice across the county.”

Charlotte Farrington, CEO of Yorkshire Children’s Charity, added:

“Every child deserves access to education by right, not by exception. Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the construction community, we’re delivering on that promise and helping schools like Hilltop provide the very best environments for learning.”

Hilltop demonstrates our commitment to giving people the tool to become their best selves, whether they work for us, with us or benefit from air movement strategies we develop. Good air quality is vital to everyone’s ability to focus and function.

It also shows our expertise in creating a healthy learning environment and reinforce our portfolio of education projects which range from special schools to specialist university facilities.

Check out what the BBC had to say about the project – click here!

Credit to DJB Photography Ltd.