Ysgol Hafod-y-Wern Primary School
Wrexham
The project
Ysgol Hafod-y-Wern Primary School is situated in Caia, a designated Communities First area of Wrexham. Following a rigorous selection process, Lawray was appointed to design and deliver a new amalgamated primary school that would leave a lasting positive impact on the community.
Cost-conscious redesign
Working within an extremely challenging budget, the brief required a modern redesign that would be compatible with the needs of the pupils. What’s more, because it was happening within a busy school, we would need to make sure existing buildings remained in use during construction.
Award-winning
In contrast to previous solutions, the team agreed right from the start that a single-storey design would be the most appropriate for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils. This would allow each classroom to open out onto a secure outside space for play and external teaching.
Deliberately low-tech in its approach, we knew this would keep the design inclusive, accessible and easy for staff to use and control. It would also keep energy costs down, helping the school to stay as energy efficient as possible – in operation as well as in theory. Along with a host of other factors, this helped the building achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. It also went on to receive the Best New Building Award from Wrexham Area Civic Society.
