Jordanstown Special Educational Needs School. Northern Ireland
In the first week of September, Ecophon took the opportunity to arrange a case study visit to the newly completed and privately funded 4000m2 Jordanstown School; the only school of its kind in Northern Ireland with boarding facilities.
Shane Cryer presents in a Jordanstown SEN school classroom
This beautifully proportioned and striking building is further enhanced by its setting in nature, a factor which heavily influenced Clare Ogle of Kennedy Fitzgerald, the project architect. Clare spent a year initially, with her clients, drawing on the best of similar schools in the UK and drawing up a prioritised client “wish list”.
Clare also reports that it was essential to work with local acousticians, F.R.Mark & Assoc, and Ecophon’s Alan Crampton to achieve an acoustic environment that takes into account BB93 and BATOD recommendations. Clare utilised Ecophon Master and Gedina ceiling solutions, as well as Ecophon acoustic wall panels to achieve the right balance of acoustic comfort for learning.
One of our guests who flew over, Johanna Foster of Re Format in Hampshire, herself involved in a high profile SEN school design commented,
“It was really interesting to see how Clare tackled the different issues, which were very wide-ranging. They needed to create a space that was flexible but still had enough structure to cater for the needs of the children”
Our host and Principal, Mrs Anne Magee, reported:
” We moved into the new school in January and had an open day in March. We thought we would have had to use a microphone in the gym so that all our visitors could hear what was being said, but it wasn’t necessary. Everyone commented on the acoustics being absolutely amazing”
Ann further attributes a calmer environment and an improvement to the pupils’ behaviour in great measure to the good acoustic environment.
For further information please contact Shane Cryer, Concept Developer – Education UK
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