IN Brief:
- The £44.9m project will provide a 900-place secondary school.
- Cross-laminated timber, ground-source heat pumps, and a bio-solar roof are specified.
- Completion is scheduled for November 2028.
Kier has started construction of a £44.9m replacement campus for Wellfield Academy in Leyland, Lancashire, using cross-laminated timber and low-energy systems developed through the Department for Education’s GenZero programme.
While the academy remains operational on its existing site, the phased project will provide a 900-place secondary school and replace five of the six current buildings. The existing sports hall will be retained.
A three-storey teaching building and two-storey shared-facilities block will be connected at first-floor level, providing approximately 70,400 sq ft of accommodation.
General classrooms, science laboratories, specialist technology spaces, dining and assembly areas, staff facilities, and supporting external works are included within the development.
Designed by AHR Architects, the scheme forms part of the Department for Education’s GenZero Pathfinder programme, which is developing repeatable approaches to low-carbon school design, manufacture, construction, and operation.
Cross-laminated timber will form the principal structural system, while the environmental strategy combines a bio-solar roof, photovoltaic generation, ground-source heat pumps, natural ventilation, and enhanced airtightness.
Construction began in May 2026 and is scheduled to finish in November 2028. Kier secured the project through the Department for Education’s 2021 construction framework.
Kier Design, Ares, Eurban, OFR Consultants, Dodd Group, and MZA Consulting Engineers are among the organisations supporting design and delivery.
Sarah Morton, regional director at Kier Construction North & Scotland, said the project would provide “modern, sustainable facilities that will support pupils and staff for generations to come”.
Replacing a school on an occupied education site requires construction activity to be planned around safeguarding, examinations, pupil movement, deliveries, noise, dust, utilities, fire routes, and separation between the public and the works.
The phased strategy also creates interfaces between retained, temporary, and new facilities. Existing services may need to remain operational until replacement systems have been tested, while some external works cannot begin until buildings are vacated and demolished.
Cross-laminated timber can shorten structural installation because components are manufactured to precise dimensions before arriving on site. Reduced wet trades and faster enclosure are valuable where the working area is constrained by an operational school.
Those programme gains rely on earlier design resolution. Openings, structural connections, fire performance, acoustic details, building-services routes, tolerances, and lifting sequences must be coordinated before panels enter manufacture.
Late alterations that might be accommodated within a conventional frame can become difficult once timber fabrication has advanced. Designers, contractors, and specialist suppliers must therefore resolve interfaces before production information is released.
Moisture control will require equal attention during transport, storage, erection, and enclosure. Temporary protection, drainage, sequencing, and inspection should prevent timber elements being exposed beyond the conditions assumed during design.
The energy systems introduce further coordination. Ground-source heat pumps depend on ground conditions, borehole or collector design, plant sizing, distribution temperatures, and the final heating demand of the completed building.
Natural ventilation requires the architecture, controls, acoustics, overheating analysis, and expected occupancy patterns to operate as a coordinated system. Enhanced airtightness reduces uncontrolled heat loss, but places greater importance on designed airflow and correct commissioning.
Combining vegetation and photovoltaic panels on the roof can support renewable generation, biodiversity, and rainwater management. Loading, drainage, maintenance access, fire separation, and panel positioning must be resolved together rather than treated as independent packages.
The project continues a wider programme of replacement education buildings, including the approved £24.3m school rebuild progressing through the Department for Education. Across the portfolio, clients are pursuing lower operational energy alongside repeatable design and procurement.
Schools nevertheless remain difficult to standardise completely because timetables, safeguarding requirements, sports provision, special educational needs, planning conditions, and existing-site constraints differ from one location to another.
GenZero’s long-term value will depend on which components, details, and technical systems can be repeated without forcing each school into an inflexible template. Standardisation must support efficient delivery while still allowing the building to respond to its users and site.
Operational performance after handover will provide the final test. Ground-source systems, natural ventilation, photovoltaics, controls, and airtight envelopes need seasonal commissioning, clear building information, and trained facilities staff if modelled energy reductions are to be achieved.
Until completion in 2028, Kier must deliver those technical objectives while maintaining a safe and functioning school throughout a multi-phase construction programme.
