City of London Academy
City of London Academy
Nearest underground station: Bermondsey
The project is part of the DfES funded City Academy programme, with the City of London as prime sponsor in collaboration with London Borough of Southwark.
This totally new school for 11-19 year olds currently has 740 Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 pupils on roll, and will eventually provide 1200 pupils from the Bermondsey area with high quality, state-of-the-art facilities.
The school opened in temporary accommodation in September 2003, and occupied the fully finished permanent facilities in September 2005. The client brief called for the full range of teaching accommodation with all attendant support facilities. This included halls for dining and assembly, sports halls, dance and drama studios, and sufficient space for school support and administration.
The underlying vision is an Academy based on a culture of high expectation and achievement within a caring community, with a focus on Business & Enterprise and Sport. The design approach seeks to underpin this vision with a positive value engineered response to an exceptionally difficult site. There has been strong reference to sustainable issues, designing for a natural environment with a high SEAM rating (Schools Environmental Assessment Method).