Best Non-Residential Building 2025 – Brockenhurst College Foundation and Independence Hub
This single storey building at Brockenhurst College offers specialist facilities within a mainstream environment for learners with special educational needs.
These include physiotherapy and speech and language rooms, and hygiene, medical and sensory rooms.
Given the mobility constraints of the learners, it was important that the building be highly accessible. It also provides nine classrooms, social spaces, staff room and kitchen. The design comprises a rectangular building of 1,200m2 on the ground floor located on the edge of the College’s playing fields. The exterior design blends in with the natural colours of the New Forest, and benefits from sensory gardens and wild flower meadows in the immediate grounds.
The modular hub was made from Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs), making it cost effective, durable and energy efficient. Its strong environmental credentials meet with BREEAM ‘very good’ criteria, including air source heat pumps, solar panels and under-floor heating.
The judges praised the building for being accessible, practical, and thoughtfully designed, with materials chosen to complement the landscape character of the National Park.
They agreed the scheme by architects Re-Format goes well beyond a standard modular building, with the owners carefully considering not only the needs of the students but also how the structure would sit within its New Forest setting.
