Droylsden Academy 

Client: Tameside Council

The academy at Droylsden replaces two existing schools, Little Moss Boys School and Droylsden School for Girls.  It is on a single site providing accommodation for 1,200 students aged 11 – 16 and a new 200 place sixth form. 

The principal wanted the new building to stand as a metaphor for change, setting higher aspirations within the community. Working together, the principal and Ryder redefined the concept of educational design in terms of the facilities provided and the environment created. 

There was a conscious decision to reduce the level of ownership over teaching and staff spaces, allowing, through space management, learning periods to take place in areas which best facilitate that period’s act.