Sunesis is a joint initiative between public sector construction procurement company Scape and contractor Willmott Dixon. There are plans to submit a further four models to the Design Council for review.
The Design Council said that the Keynes design could provide a valuable learning environment, offering proactive spaces for learning and play.
Since the abolition of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the Design Council has the role of promoting building design and architecture for the government.
Design Council senior advisor Alan Thompson said: “We have made a number of general comments about the long term challenges for the standardised process and for the design of both buildings and the landscape. We find the Sunesis Keynes project to be a valuable response to the challenges of delivering new primary schools.
“And providing the client and design team continue to develop their models further, we believe this could be a successful way to build new schools, specifically where both the site and client brief are at the less demanding end of the spectrum.”
This news comes just weeks after Warwickshire County Council purchased the £2.2m Keynes model and construction of the first standardised Sunesis school in the UK got underway at Oakfield Primary in Rugby.
Willmott Dixon Capital Works CEO John Frankiewicz said: “We see standardisation as fundamental to meeting the ‘more for less’ agenda that our clients have set us and are delighted to have this Design Council endorsement. We are only just getting started, with several models available; we aim to save local authorities million of pounds for their new school accommodation.”
Scape CEO Mark Robinson said: “According to the National Audit Office and Construction Excellence, over 50% of public buildings are delivered late and cost more than first thought. Sunesis is different, in that it offers complete certainty in cost, time and quality up front.
“Time and cost certainty are critical factors for local authorities to consider, particularly as demand in many parts of the UK is outstripping supply. A surge in birth rates over recent years means that pupil numbers in many existing school buildings is nearing capacity.
“There is a real need to meet the challenge set out by government to deliver education facilities in a different way, and we believe the Sunesis approach offers that solution. This third party endorsement from the Design Council will pave the way for a shift in perception, and we delighted to have received such positive feedback.”
Scap and Willmott Dixon expect Sunesis to reduce the cost of a new school facility by up to 30%, and the build programme by around 20 weeks on average. It is available to any public sector client via Scape’s National Contractor Framework, to which Willmott Dixon was re-appointed in 2010 following a competitive tender process as the sole delivery contractor.
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