Mill Hill School, Ripley - Derbyshire UK - Armstrong Ceilings

CEILINGSSYSTEMSBetween us, ideas become reality. ®PROJECTMill Hill School,Ripley - Derbyshire UK

Armstrong helps create inspiring environment for young studentsA £7 million refurbishment has turned a Derbyshire school from a run-down concrete campusinto a state-of-the-art specialist arts college incorporating performing, visual and media arts – withexemplary teaching and learning facilities.

A review at Mill Hill School in Ripley, Derbyshire hadfound teaching accommodation to be considerablylacking: the existing buildings were worn out and anew building was required to house IT facilities anddrama teaching, as well as providing a new base for theschool’s sixth form.With funding available from a wider £18 milliongovernment initiative to rejuvenate schools inDerbyshire, Mill Hill School was able to construct anew building with a total of forty rooms and carry outextensive refurbishment to turn its ageing facilities intoan inspiring environment worthy of its specialist artscollege status.The work included replacing an existing block whichhoused several classrooms and technology rooms,with eight science laboratories, five art rooms,seven technology rooms, a media room and sevenclassrooms. An existing single-storey building containingthe main hall, kitchen, gym and some technology roomswas also renovated.A key aspect of the project was to ensure that the newbuildings complied with Building Bulletin 93, the regulatoryframework for the acoustic design of schools. BuildingBulletin 93 recognises that teaching and learning areacoustically demanding activities that require low ambientnoise levels and high levels of sound insulation.“Intelligibility is very important in teaching spaces, asevery pupil in the class needs to hear the teacher clearly,”explains Frank Shaw Associates, the firm responsible foroverseeing the project. “It is also vital to ensure minimumsound interference comes from the corridors into theclassrooms so pupils are not disturbed during lessons.”Dune Max ceiling tiles from Armstrong World Industrieswere selected to meet the requirements of Bulletin 93and installed over a total area of 3,500m 2 .Dune Max produces a calculated reverberation timeof 0.6 seconds for a typical 200m 3 classroom whichis an optimum result as defined by the Department forChildren, Schools and Families.ArchitectFrank Shaw Associates LtdMain ContractorMiller ConstructionOmega Ceiling ContractorEastledge Ltd, DerbyProduct3,500m 2 Dune MaxBoard on Prelude24mm Grid

“Dune Max tiles have long been a favouriteamong contractors and specifiers foreducation projects,” explains Graham TaylorUK & RoI Sales Director for Armstrong. “Theirrobust handling properties, clean visual,and excellent structural fire performanceare perfect for a school environment, but itis their ability to control reverberation withinclassrooms and reduce the noise transferbetween adjacent spaces that makes themthe stand-out choice in education.”Frank Shaw Associates had used Armstrongtiles for past projects and were happy thatDune Max was the best tile for the Mill HillSchool renovation. It wasn’t an easy project,the buildings that had to be renovated wererun down, the roof structures were complexand we encountered problems with slopingsoffits. But the flexibility of Armstrong’sdesigns meant we were able to overcome allthese challenges.”The pupils and staff at Mill Hill are nowbenefiting from the new modern environmentand enhanced teaching spaces. “As aspecialist centre for performing, visual andmedia arts, communication is key to the veryfabric of the school and what it stands for.It is therefore fitting that the new ceiling tileshave provided the best possible environmentfor communication to take place within theschool’s buildings,” explains Taylor.The school’s new block was opened byBBC journalist and newsreader Moira Stuart,highlighting its new focus on becoming acentre for media.Discover other projectson our online Project Gallery.10/2010 - PX3015 © Simon Miles - VELVET expérience Armstrong Building Products - RCS Besançon B 784 131 575Armstrong World Industries Ltd.Building Products DivisionArmstrong House, 38 Market Square,Uxbridge UB8 1NG0800 371849 (UK)1800 409002 (ROI)Fax 00 44 (0) 1895 274287sales-support@armstrong.comwww.armstrong-ceilings.co.ukwww.armstrong-ceilings.iewww.armstrong.eufreefoneArmstrong Building Products(Middle East) (L.L.C.)P.O.Box 73831Dubai - United Arab EmiratesTel +971 4 204 5686Fax +971 4 204 5685www.armstrong.ae