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The following statements by The Derek Hicks and Thew Partnership, published here with their consent, explain the logic behind Planning Applications 02F/0294 and 02L/0295 (i.e. the amended plans referred to in the Wavertree Society's Newsletter 140):
LIVERPOOL BLUE COAT SCHOOL
"The application broadly uses the principles established on the application submitted last year, but has been developed to address areas of concern which were held by the school's Governors.
"As a progression of the design of the earlier application, certain issues regarding the functionality of the school, the maintenance aspect of the new extension, the issue of security of the new "courtyard" and the issue of further uses of the school facility were requested to be addressed. We feel these issues have been examined to benefit the scheme to provide an improved solution to the provision of the new facilities.
"Our main areas of development of the scheme are briefly summarised as follows:
- Relocating the sports accommodation to the eastern side of the development, which enables the mass and bulk of the sports hall accommodation to be partially hidden behind the natural bank which occurs on the site.
- The subsequent relocation of the science accommodation enables classrooms to have better natural lighting and avoids classrooms looking directly onto the bank.
- The relocation of this accommodation along with the "internal stepping" of the building allows the scale and mass of the Prince Alfred Road elevation to be broken down into elements which provide a coherent look.
- By the creation of an additional link to the western side of the development to the existing building, internal circulation is rationalised and a sensible solution to the circulation of pupils and staff is provided. This action has also enabled the creation of a secure internal courtyard between the new extension and the existing building.
- The use of copper cladding on the external elevation has been carefully examined, with the solution being for high level pre-patinated copper. The height of the copper in a school environment is critical, at low level it would be prone to denting, marking and potential damage, which would provide the school with a continuing maintenance issue. As such by relocating it to above ground floor window head level these issues are removed.
"The nature of milled copper is such that during its patination process (i.e. turning brown to green) which may take up to 15 years, the run off from the copper to any porous surface is likely to cause unsightly staining. Hence the change to a pre-patinated copper removes this issue and provides a building solution which from the date of completion provides the actual finish, and will not be subject to changing appearance due to the weather."
J Harris
THE DEREK HICKS AND THEW PARTNERSHIP
Liverpool
12 March 2002
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