Official Opening of the New St. Martins Special School, Ballytruckle, Waterford, Ireland

By CJFA - Jul 04, 2018

Category: Company News / Project Progress / Press

Our recently completed project - the New St. Martins Special School, Ballytruckle, Waterford - was Officially Opened on Thursday the 14/06/18.

Ten years in the making by many stakeholders who helped realise the project, the #school occupies a new 4,100m2 single storey campus, which accommodates pupils with special educational needs.

Congratulations to all the staff & pupils on their new school - and to all involved!

Project Insight:

St. Martins Special School is a school for children with severe disabilities, to autism (it is not designed exclusively for children with autism, but to include them). Due to the nature of this new school, a large amount of research was carried out prior to any design work – with this involving the rereviewing of unique guidelines, good practice procedures, case studies of similar projects, and, importantly, meeting, and discussing the client’s requirements.

Designed by C.J. Falconer & Associates using BIM/Revit - the Concepts for the new school was ‘Movement and Light’, and the aim to create a home-like environment without an institutionalised feel.

To ensure ease of use for students with mobility-impairments, and open up space for light and use, the school was designed as a single-storey - affording 4,106m2 in floor-space - at the heart of which, is a Courtyard, Dining, Kitchen and General Purpose area. The conventional corridor is banished, and turned into useable space in its own right - with access through double doors to the central courtyard / Sensory Garden. This effectively ‘breaks the mould’ of the institutional approach to accommodation facilities, and creates a space that can be utilised, especially for play.

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More Project Information: For more information, and images, visit the project page: New St. Martin’s Special School, Ballytruckle, Co. Waterford