Christ Church Secondary Academy

Our team in the Midlands have created a new three-storey secondary academy school in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, opening September 2021, which has created a further 1,150 school places in the region.

The project was the first to be delivered under the Department of Education framework (DfE) for the Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust and constructed under the Education & Skills Funding Agency High Value Contractors Framework.

Designed by architecture firm CPMG Architects, the new school comprises a pick-up and drop-off area for pupils, a sports hall, two full-size football pitches and one FA standard 3G pitch. Traditional materials have been used in a contemporary way to create a clean, simple aesthetic, whilst providing robustness and ease of maintenance including; a concrete raft ground floor, traditional brick and block wall construction with feature of render and façade cladding to express the academy’s identity.

Take a look around the finished school here:

Dan Doyle, operations director at Willmott Dixon said:

"We’re so pleased to have worked with the Department for Education, the Trust and CPMG on the creation of this contemporary new school building. This school will not only meet local educational needs by increasing pupil places, but also enhance the surrounding area and create an outstanding school for Yardley Wood.

"We are pleased to be working with the DfE to create a new contemporary building which will meet the needs of the local community. This new building will enhance the current area, provide state of the art facilities for students and create an outstanding school for Yardley Wood."

Christopher Mansell, CEO, Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust said:

“I’m really passionate about it being built here because I think it will really help to regenerate this community. We are delighted that the building in underway and are certain that Willmott Dixon will deliver a school that open new opportunities for the young people of Yardley Wood.”

Sara Harraway, director at CPMG Architects said:

“We worked very closely with the school while developing the design, establishing a design concept based around the Trust’s values and the school’s branding. This has seen the introduction of a neutral colour palette, interspersed with bursts of signature blue and yellow feature elements.

“The finished school has created a positive, bright, robust, attractive and nurturing environment for pupils, which will also promote a sense of calm and sophistication. Large, high windows have been integrated to optimise natural daylight – just one of many elements designed to promote positive wellbeing in all the building’s users.

“We’ve been really pleased to work closely with the Trust and contractors Willmott Dixon to bring this excellent development forward, creating more than 1,000 new school places in the local area, served by fantastic facilities to support the delivery of top-quality education.”