Construction Centre

Designed for current and future needs, the building offers 11 classrooms, 8 workshops, and a range of ancillary spaces. Here the architecture is a teaching tool, exposed structural elements mechanical systems, and sustainable technologies are visible throughout, offering real-time learning opportunities. The design celebrates construction itself, highlighting elements like brick bonds, steel connections, and plumbing and electrical systems, supporting both education and ease of future adaptability, where students learning installation can see the working examples.

The £50 million masterplan for the regeneration of Oaklands College’s St Alban’s campus has received planning consent from the Secretary of State. Our phased masterplan strategically replaces the outdated buildings, in order to create a modern and forward-looking campus.

Once a manor house and former agricultural college, the St Albans campus has evolved over the years with an assortment of teaching facilities in its grounds. Although a highly successful college, much of the estate is no longer fit for purpose and is in need of radical overhaul to meet modern expectations.

Nine new buildings are introduced by the masterplan, connected by landscape improvements, enhancing the Green Belt setting whilst minimising civil works, and maximising the capital investment on new teaching environments. Our architectural response groups departments and student-focussed uses around a new college square, to enrich the college community.

Clad in standing seam zinc with an agricultural undulating zigzag roofline, we reduced the visual impact on the surrounding countryside while establishing a contemporary identity. A robust yet refined palette of materials references the rural setting, paired with expressive features, such as the cantilevered entrance, reflecting the College’s progressive vision.

Bringing together courses for construction trades into one academic setting, the centre incorporates specialist workshops for plumbing, electrical, and renewable energy installation, alongside a construction lab, VR suite, and IT classrooms. The design supports a smooth transition from traditional systems to low carbon, renewable technologies, mirroring the industry’s evolution and ensuring students are career-ready. Informal study areas provide students and staff with inspiring space to work between classes or for group work.

A dramatic cantilevered corner over the forecourt signals the entrance while a bespoke mural designed by the DLA team is incorporated into the interior design. Graphic text displaying words from influential figures, adorn the walls throughout the centre and finishes and fixtures were chosen for longevity, reuse, and low impact. Internal systems are accessible and upgradable, aligning with a circular economy approach and reinforcing the “building-as-teacher” philosophy.

Our approach has included collaboration with young people, through a series of engagement sessions, ensuring their needs shaped the design of both living and learning environments. Empowering young people, the consultation process and subsequent design provides spaces that encourage personal development and community participation by creating spaces for connection as well as more private intimate spaces.

We have engaged directly with the College Senior Leadership team over a number of years, supporting them in developing and refining design proposals in response to a shifting marketing and evolving business case.

Sustainability and wellbeing are embedded in both concept and execution. The design includes solar PVs, MVHR, air source heat pumps, and high-performance insulation, with ASHP enclosed where students can see them in action. The Construction Centre is one of the UK’s first buildings to use K-Briq, a low-carbon brick made from 90% recycled construction waste, which helped save 880kg of CO₂e.

A fabric first approach to the thermal envelope has been built to LETI guidance on thermal and air-tightness standards, aligning with the college’s broader sustainability targets and steps towards a net zero campus. Daylight modelling informed the glazing design, use of brise soleil ensure good daylight levels while limiting glare and reducing solar gains. Large north lights in the larger workshops provide daylight where installation construction bays fill the walls below.