Dunstable and Houghton Regis
Thornhill Primary School
What will the new school building look like?
The new school building is arranged around a central playground, overlooked by circulation spaces and a new access deck. This deck wraps the entire two storey section of the building, providing valuable breakout space for smaller group learning, connecting teaching with the outside and the surrounding context.
At the heart of the school is a double height entrance atrium and split-level library, adjacent to the new sports/ dining hall, centralising the facilities, promoting active learning within a centralised hub.
Once the new teaching block is opened, it will accommodate junior school year groups 2 to 6 and grow year by year in line with housing growth, with 450 pupils its total capacity.
The new teaching block for the school is the first in Central Bedfordshire that will be built to the highest sustainable standards using Passivhaus criteria to deliver a super energy-efficient building.
What is happening to the existing building?
This will continue to be used as before. Once the new teaching block is opened it will accommodate infant school year groups from nursery to year 1, with a total capacity of 180 pupils. Works to this building are focused on lessening the impact of circulation on the teaching spaces through the relocation of the library and resources areas to adjoin the main hall, plus the development of this area as an activity hub with improved ancillary and increased nursery facilities.