Main contractor Willmott Dixon began work at Easter on the £21m SEND school for West Northamptonshire Council, having been appointed through the Department for Education’s construction framework.
Scheduled for completion in summer 2025, Tiffield Academy will have capacity for 230 pupils aged four to 18 years old on the autistic spectrum and/or with severe learning difficulties. Facilities will include specialist teaching spaces, a soft playroom, a sensory room and a rebound therapy room. A playground, outdoor soft and hard play areas, and staff and visitor car parking are also included within the plans.
The three-storey building will be powered by solar photovoltaics (PVs) and heated by air source heat pumps. The design will enhance energy efficiency through high levels of air tightness and insulation.
The new school is being built on a 20,217 sqm site formerly occupied by St Johns approved school.
The project team also includes Associated Architects, Hexa Consulting, JEH Planning, Ares Landscape Architects and SVM Building Services Design.
This is the latest in a series of SEND schools for Willmott Dixon. Others include a £100m SEND school programme in Lincolnshire and one in Wiltshire.
Willmott Dixon director Nick Heath: “We have a strong record of delivering SEND schools – helping local authorities to meet the specialist educational requirements of local children and their families is something we take great pride in.
“Alongside specialist facilities, we are also helping customers to future-proof their schools by embedding sustainability. In the case of Tiffield School, this will also help to meet the council’s aspirations to be carbon neutral by 2030.”
