Description

The Society of Merchant Venturers, who have been supporting education in Bristol
since the 16th century, and the University of Bristol co-sponsored Merchants’
Academy in Bristol. The school provides its pupils with an inspirational
environment that is both open and enclosing. The architects worked closely with
the stakeholder group to develop a brief that reflected the new academy’s
educational aims allowing the project to develop in a manner where the building
reinforces the school’s educational ethos. A successful collaboration between
artist Tod Hanson and the staff, pupils and architects to develop a huge graphic
to adorn the façade of the school includes the Society of Merchant Venturers’
heraldic crest. This provides the school with a strong visual identity as well
as representing the academy’s sponsors.

The school is conceived as a series of pavilions around an open cloistered
courtyard creating a ‘learning village’. Each pavilion houses a variety of
spaces that range from more traditional classrooms to labs, ICT and breakout
spaces. This provides a high level of flexibility in teaching methods. Other
physical aspects of the school that contribute to the development of the school
community include high degrees of transparency and openness. Large areas of
glazing open out into the courtyard space, allowing views into and out of
teaching spaces.

The creation of this academy sought to turn around poor attendance and low
academic aspirations; the school addresses these problems in both pedagogical
and physical manners. The creation of a ‘house’ system encourages pastoral care
across the year groups. The plan form of the school manifests the house system
through the creation of a series of pavilions around a central courtyard. Four
of the seven pavilions form bases for the ‘houses’, whilst one is allocated to
the school’s entry year. The separation of the first year is aimed at providing
a transition space from primary to secondary level education. The creation of
such a deliberate pastoral system strives to engender a school community based
on mutual respect and maturity.

The external courtyard provides space for social interchange between the houses.
In an unusual arrangement, the students’ lockers are placed outside under the
shelter of the cloistered walk that surrounds the courtyard. This increases the
width of circulation space from an average to a generous corridor width reducing
the crush experienced at class change over and providing a place for social
interaction. This also creates an incentive for pupils to stay outside a little
longer.

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Originally published in: Prue Chiles (ed.), Leo Care, Howard Evans, Anna Holder, Claire Kemp, Building Schools: Key Issues for Contemporary Design, Birkhäuser, 2015.