BAM has been selected to create a 'pathfinder' college that develops sustainable design for building new schools.

The teaching and communal building is Southam College in Warwickshire's which has 1652 students.

The College is a 'pathfinder' for several reasons. It will achieve net zero carbon emissions and low energy use, but in addition, uses passive design, biophilic design, climate resilience, and health and wellbeing elements.

The scheme intends to set the bar and guide how schools are built in the future.

BAM's involvement is wide-ranging. Not only is it the contractor, but its design team is lead architect, and it has conducted extensive energy and climate modelling, interior design, and is providing the school with a strategy for achieving a net zero carbon in operation position for the rest of the estate’s life.

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It is also behind the structural engineering and MEP design.

Dave Ellis, Regional Director for the Midlands said: "The building will be net zero in operation, and we are also reducing the embodied carbon – the carbon in the actual materials used in the construction. We've evaluated the base design and produced a range of options to reduce embodied carbon.

"What we learn from Southam College will feed into the Department’s wider approach to reducing carbon in the education field. In addition, we’ll add additional significant extra social value by using local companies in our supply chain, and work around the school so classes and activities continue uninterrupted during the project.

"BAM has robust strategies responding to the climate emergency we face and putting the health and wellbeing of the students and teachers at the core of the new facilities."