St. John Bosco Arts College

Project Overview

Original plans to rebuild this all-girls secondary school had to unfortunately be scrapped when the government’s BSF scheme collapsed in 2010. However, Liverpool City Council then agreed to invest in the school as part of a £169m city-wide initiative. The result is a modern three-storey development delivering highly advanced facilities for dance, drama, science and the arts. On this outstanding community project, MAC Roofing installed 4,500m2 of polymeric single ply roofing and over 3,600m2 of Kingspan composite cladding in three striking colours.

The Solution

The roof area presented a number of challenges, not least because of the large open plan design of the college beneath. This was developed in order to create a more welcoming, less rigid teaching environment, and includes teaching pods, communal areas and open air meeting spaces. As a result, the internal acoustic requirements were particularly demanding, and MAC worked closely with both the specifier and main contractor to develop the right solution. Acoustic void infills and R10 acoustic matting were ultimately used on the 200mm perforated deck which spanned over 7 metres.

A large quantity of photovoltaic panels were also installed onto the roof area, so efficient working and close co-operation with following trades were also vital to the success of this project. Overall, the single ply membrane perfectly complements the aesthetic appeal of this modern college building and both client and main contractor are extremely pleased with the results.

This striking educational development has since been announced as a RIBA Award winner and has also recently been short-listed for the Architect’s Journal Building of the Year.