Prater delivers educational excellence at Appleton Academy

Established building contractor H&J Martin appointed Prater to deliver a complete building envelope solution at the new Appleton Academy in Yorkshire.

Prater’s in-house design capability and experience of managing education projects, enabled the project to maintain a difficult build schedule allowing the primary school section of the building to open its doors in September 2012 and the secondary school section to open in November 2012.

Appleton Academy is the first through age school (3-19yrs) in Yorkshire. Sponsored by Bradford College, the academy is named after Sir Edward Appleton, a Nobel Prize winning scientist who both studied and worked there. The £24 million scheme has been built to accommodate 1400 pupils.

Designed by London-based Architects BDP, Appleton Academy is formed of a curved, U-shaped structure, sloped roof and internal winter garden.

Prater’s package of works at the Academy included a striking cedar rain screen finish to the exterior of thebuilding, together with a windows and curtain wall package. Furthermore, Prater has installed a Sto render system and various flat roofing elements including an aluminum standing seam. The result is a striking building that rises from the ground to take a commanding position on the surrounding landscape.  

Colm Rogers, Project Manager at H&J Martin commented: “Prater had the proven expertise within the education market and experience keeping to tight build times and managing a complex supply chain. From the outset of the project we’ve been extremely impressed with Prater’s collaborative approach and we have been impressed with their ability to deliver results above and beyond our expectations.

With this in mind, we would have no hesitation in working with Prater on projects of this nature in the future.”

As well as state-of-the-art teaching facilities, the academy also benefits from a 3G astro turf pitch, ICT amenities and an impressive public library, which has replaced the old Wyke library.