Wade Deacon High School

The construction project involved keeping the historic frontage of the original building whilst building a brand new school behind it. The 500 seat auditorium and spacious Learning Resource Centre at the heart of the school shows the detailed thought and design work that entered this fabulous project.

As all teaching areas needed natural light control, Decor Systems were involved from the early stages to provide solutions and ideas for the varied requirements.

There were two types of roof blinds - the decor 290 atria venetian system provided glare control in the circulation spaces.  In the Auditorium, where total blackout was required for the AV system, the rooflights were fitted with decor 590 atria blackouts, which is a roller type blind with side channels, which draw from the bottom upwards with tension wires.

The Auditorium blinds were integrated with the lighting and sound system which is conrollable from wallstations or remotely via an iPhone® App.

A natural ventilation strategy using opening windows meant that the blinds had be draught resistant, and also allow the air to pass through.  This was achieved by using unique wire guided vertical blinds from Decor Systems, where the usual plastic chains at the bottom of the louvres were replaced by a taut stainless steel wire.  This wire keeps the louvres in place and prevents them from getting tangled or damaged. 

Client: Halton Borough Council

Contractor: Vinci Construction

Architect: Sheppard Robson