St John Bosco Arts College

Croxteth, Liverpool

The brief

Following the sudden scrapping of the government’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ scheme, the College’s redevelopment plans were salvaged by an investment of £18m through a Liverpool City Council programme. At less than half the original budget, this new funding forced the College and project architects BDP to rethink plans in order to deliver 15% more space for its 1,100 students. So successful was the redesign that the project was delivered on time, and under this already drastically reduced budget.

Situated adjacent to the former school buildings, the new 11,100m² 3-storey building is arranged around a central ‘heartspace’, specifically designed to accommodate the school’s specialisation in visual and performing arts. This adaptable, future-proof area encompasses a balance of open and cellular learning, social and breakout spaces. Dance, drama and fitness facilities sit side by side with tiered, multipurpose auditorium-style space and central resource centre.

With student involvement, a vibrant colour palette was selected including yellow, lime green, pink, white and grey for walls, panels, partitions and flooring.

Our solution

Postura+ task chairs - Specified in Grape Crush, for classrooms and multifunctional spaces

Postura+ stools - Specified in Grape Crush and Ash Grey IT and science labs

Postura+ chairs - Specified in Grape Crush for classrooms and multifunctional spaces

We selected the Postura+ chair for its robust characteristics, student comfort and because of the wide choice of colours available to help create a vibrant, fun and engaging learning environment. The school and its pupils were very much involved in the design and build as well as the furniture selection process. After testing a number of chairs students preferred the design and comfort that Postura+ chairs offered.

Mark Braund, Project Director, BDP

More information

Date - September 2014
End user - 1,100 students
Project type - New facility
Project partners - FBS Contracts, BDP
Website - www.stjohnboscoartscollege.com