Studio Oma has created the design for the School of Science and Sports at Brighton college, East Sussex.
Located alongside Brighton College’s main playing field, the new linear block merges facilities for both sports and science departments.
“Our brief was to find a way to connect the sciences of chemistry, physics and biology with the science of sport,” explained Brighton College headmaster Richard Cairns about the project.
Most of the building’s sports facilities are on the ground floor, while the science department classrooms are on the upper floors. Located under a portico supported by angled steel pillars, the entrance of the School of Science and Sports leads to an atrium with a cafe. The sport facilities are arranged along a corridor. The double-height gym, weights room and the offices of the physical education department have glass walls and have views across the sports field. A multi-purpose sports hall with two fully glazed walls is sited at the end of the block and opens on to the adjacent sports field.
On the underground level there is a swimming pool, changing rooms, and a carpark.
Above the sports facilities, on the first floor are positioned the classrooms, laboratories and a cinema room, arranged around the double-height spaces below.
The rest of the science school rooms are on the second floor, accessible via a wide staircase with step labs next to it.
Informal breakout spaces and spaces where students can do individual projects are also provided for both of the departments.
There is a roof garden that overlooks the school and the playing field that it runs alongside.
It contains spaces that can be used for teaching along with a running track.
The creators of the project were inspired for the facade of the new project by the regular rhythm of the typical terraced houses opposite, which have different units of rooms. They have translated that into a concept, called skeleton. The laboratories and sports facilities are slotted into that skeleton.
Brighton College’s Sports and Science Centre was officially opened in January 2020 by the Right Honourable Sir Nicholas Soames.
Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/01/10/oma-brighton-college-school-science-sports/