New look for King's Lynn Academy with a £10m redevelopment scheme.

£10m project to redevelop former Park High School

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The new look for King’s Lynn Academy was unveiled yesterday with details of the £10.4m project revealed for the first time.

With work expected to start in March next year, the transformation of the academy should be completed by September 2013 when it will have capacity for 1,100 students at the Queen Mary Road site. Gaywood.

The plans went on display at the offices of West Norfolk Council yesterday and the full extent of the redevelopment became clear as part of the consultation process.

A three-story block at the centre of the school will be demolished and replaced by a new structure with classrooms and a large open space which can be used for variety of purposes - from exhibitions to relaxation area.

The new central area will link the two ‘wings’ of the existing buildings which will also be refurbished as part of the project.

New courtyard areas will be created and the striking appearance of a new gateway complete with yellow branding will ensure it won’t be missed.

Mark Phillips, of London-based designers Studio E, said the idea was to create a bright, open learning facility which inspired students and worked to emphasise the academy’s specialisms of maths, business and enterprise.

There will be an ‘enterprise’ booth at the newly-designed entrance where entrepreneurial students have the chance to market things they have created or grown at the academy.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and it is a fantastic site and we have to make sure it is somewhere people will want to come,” said Mr Phillips.

Existing buildings which are in good order and a percentage of the furniture will be retained in order to allow the majority of the budget to be utilised where it is most needed, he added.

New windows, insulation and photovoltaic panels will also be used to help reduce the running costs of the academy.

The funding for the project has come from the Government under the Partnership for Schools scheme which has been accelerated by 18 months as the foundations had already been laid for the Lynn project.

Exam results at the academy, which opened in September 2010, have seen the number of students achieving five or more GCSEs including English and maths double to 42pc.

Project manager Brian Siller said the academy would be building on the improvements made so far and the capital investment about to be made in the fabric was an intrinsic part of the aspiration to keep standards rising.

Mr Siller, who works for academy partner Morston Assets, said there should be minimal disruption during the three phases of construction and students were not expected to be relocated to portable buildings.

“There is some capacity within the buildings and the work has been programmed very carefully,” he said.

Community use of some academy facilities, including the sports fields, will also be retained once work is completed and it is hoped more use will be made of the academy by other organisations.

The construction work will be carried out by Balfour Beatty which will be employing 40pc local people during the build project. The company will also be taking on four apprentices who are likely to also study at the College of West Anglia - another partner in the academy’s development.

A detailed planning application is likely to be submitted in the next few weeks and, if approved, work should start in March.

It had been hoped the academy would be re-built entirely on a new site within the South Lynn regeneration area A new principal, Craig Morrison, took up his role in June of this year.

The details of the scheme will be put on the academy website - www.kingslynnacademy.co.uk