A new basic needs building providing six classrooms, community education facilities and associated office and meeting rooms. This is the first phase of a new building programme identified through a masterplan prepared by Ferguson Mann Architects in 2004. Governed by DfES guidelines, a ten year strategy was developed to provide new teaching and other accommodation as well as demolishing existing substandard and temporary buildings. As part of the department’s Better Schools Programme the building is an exemplar of low energy design, incorporating passive heating and natural ventilation strategies. Three storeys of accommodation are arranged within a simple envelope so that ancillary spaces face north and classrooms south, maximising the potential for passive solar gain. Summer cooling is provided by night-time stack effect ventilation via a series of internal chimneys that rise through the building. This removes heat from thermally massive concrete floors which then re-absorb in the daytime.