Stepney Green is a boys’ comprehensive school and one of the top schools in Tower Hamlets. The three storey building provides education facilities for the new Sixth Form currently being established at the School.

The site for the new school building is in the south-west corner of the existing Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College on Ben Jonson Road. The site fronts directly onto the street although the new building adjoins and connects directly into the adjacent existing dining room. Close stakeholder liaison and logistics planning was an integral part of the success of this project.

The structure is a steel frame and suspended in-situ RC ground floor slab founded generally on ground beams and piled foundations. Upper floors are in-situ concrete on profiled metal deck. All floors have a floating screed on insulation to accommodate an underfloor heating system. The roof is formed with a structural metal deck.

External walls use a metsec frame, boarded internally with plasterboard and externally with cementitious sheathing board. High levels of thermal performance is achieved with insulation within the metsec zone and outer cavity. The outer leaf is facing brickwork.

The new building will act as a transition between the recently completed school buildings and the Ocean Estate masterplan. The building has a similar materials to the new residential development and took precedence from the existing colours in the area.

The roof area is used as an amenity space for staff and students. The stair and lift extend to serve roof level and the perimeter parapet is designed to provide the required edge protection. The Sixth Form Centre is physically connected to the existing dining facilities. The ground floor glazing is set back from the boundary by approximately a metre. Large concrete columns support the overhanging first floor level creating a defensible space in-front of the classroom windows.