More than 1,000 new school places have been created in Yardley Wood, Birmingham thanks to the completion of a brand-new £19m secondary academy school.

Christ Church, Church of England, Secondary Academy, which is due to welcome pupils from September, has been built by the Department for Education (DfE) to create an additional 1,150 school places for the region.

Designed by architecture firm CPMG Architects, and delivered by contractor Willmott Dixon, the new £19m, three-storey school includes facilities to accommodate 900 secondary level pupils, and a further 250 students in the sixth form. The new building comprises a pick-up and drop-off area for pupils, a sports hall, two full size football pitches and one FA standard 3G pitch.

Traditional materials have been used in a contemporary manner to create a clean and simple aesthetic, whilst providing robustness and ease of maintenance, including a concrete raft ground floor, traditional brick and block wall construction with a feature of render and façade cladding to express the academy’s identity.

Dan Doyle, director at Willmott Dixon, said:

"We’re so pleased to have worked with the Department for Education, the Trust and CPMG on the creation of this contemporary new school building. This school will not only meet local educational needs by increasing pupil places, but also enhance the surrounding area and create an outstanding school for Yardley Wood.”

Sara Harraway, director at CPMG Architects, said:

“We worked very closely with the school while developing the design, establishing a design concept based around the Trust’s values and the school’s branding. This has seen the introduction of a neutral colour palette, interspersed with bursts of signature blue and yellow feature elements.

“The finished school has created a positive, bright, robust, attractive and nurturing environment for pupils, which will also promote a sense of calm and sophistication. Large, high windows have been integrated to optimise natural daylight – just one of many elements designed to promote positive wellbeing in all the building’s users.

“We’ve been really pleased to work closely with the Trust and contractors Willmott Dixon to bring this excellent development forward, creating more than 1,000 new school places in the local area, served by fantastic facilities to support the delivery of top-quality education.”

The school has been constructed through the Department for Education framework and has been designed to be both elegant and sophisticated, using robust and durable materials that will stand the test of time.

Christopher Mansell, CEO of the Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust said:

“We’ve been working closely with the project team since 2016, when we received permission to build the school, and it's fantastic that we now have this wonderful building to re-energise the Yardley Wood community.

“We’re delighted that Mark Bowman Dalton will be headteacher at Christ Church, he brings with him an experienced leadership team, and we hope the school will provide outstanding education to pupils for the foreseeable future.”