Buildings That Teach

We have decades of experience in creating award-winning education spaces. From schools and SEND facilities to Further and Higher Education, we thrive on creating environments that inspire learning, curiosity and innovation. Our ethos centres on a simple but powerful principle: buildings themselves should teach. Whether through visible structure, exposed services or research-driven environments, we believe architecture can actively deepen understanding rather than simply house it.

At the Oaklands Construction Centre, students learn in hands on, in exposed environments where structure, pipework, services, and material junctions are intentionally visible, allowing the next generation of construction trade students to understand how buildings work in the real world. Students of brickwork, joinery, plumbing, electrical installation, plastering, and digital construction gain not only technical skills but also an understanding of how their trade operates in situ, reinforcing the principle of buildings as living teaching tools.

Although not an education facility in the traditional sense, the Sustainable Materials & Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) embodies this principle at an advanced, industry-facing scale. The SMMC will provide a learning, research, and demonstration environment where academia, industry, and emerging enterprises can explore the next generation of construction materials, manufacturing processes, and low-carbon technologies. It is a facility where ideas will be tested, refined, and future-proofed in real time.

The fabrication workshop at SMMC will offer dedicated bays for established companies developing new products, as well as flexible incubation space for early-stage start-ups. The building will house laboratories, testing suites, prototyping workshops, collaboration studios, and analysis spaces, all arranged around centralised atria to promote visibility, interaction, and cross-disciplinary exchange.

Following the same principles as Oaklands College, the SMMC building is designed to support product demonstrations, industry engagement, and commercial events. A specialist metrology laboratory will provide the precision measurement capabilities required to validate research and manufacturing processes, supporting quality assurance, repeatability, and performance across the facility.

The SMMC will host Innovation Accelerator-funded programmes, including CEAMS (Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability), and act as a base for a range of research and technology organisations aligned with Mayor Andy Burnham’s ambition to build a world-class cluster of advanced materials and manufacturing at Atom Valley in Greater Manchester.

A 360° Narrative-Led Design Approach

The design is guided by a 360° narrative-led approach, in which research, teaching, making, and learning inform one another. The innovations explored within the SMMC reflect the materials and technologies shaping contemporary construction practice, closely aligning with the skills being taught at Oaklands and helping to prepare students for future industry contexts.

We continue our commitment to education and construction innovation by designing and delivering buildings that teach, adapt, and inspire, shaping resilient, low-carbon architecture and the future of skills for decades to come.