On 23rd February, Tom Walsh (CEO, Sustainable Merton) visited Cranmer Primary School, Mitcham, for a first look at their new environmentally friendly building – Cranmer Court.
Head Teacher Ruth Whymark hosted the tour and two of the school’s pupils proudly helped guide Tom and the other visitors around. The striking building includes renewable energy technology and a sedum roof to encourage biodiversity and improve insulation.
The two-tier, fully accessible block will also help to provide 210 extra school places for local children, as part of the Merton’s primary school expansion programme.
Ms Whymark describes the new building as an ‘ecologically-friendly design; full of light and space’, of which Tom was very impressed with. He tell us that visitors were able to take a look at exactly how much power the school generates for itself, via a meter panel that has also been included in the design, and states: ‘The solar panels were producing 7.7Kw of power on a bright winter’s afternoon when we visited and all of this power would go to reducing Cranmer’s demands on the grid and also save the school money.’
He continues: ‘Through their innovative desire to blend the old with the new, the school has managed to create a stylish and ecologically sound answer to the expanding demands on primary school places in their part of the borough’.
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