Looks can thrill

STUNNING school . . . Radclyffe head teacher Hardial Hayer shows off the school’s award with pupils (clockwise, from top left) Daniel Roe, Tyrell Denny, Abdullah Hafeez, Attiyya Rahman, Tia Miller and Cynthia Moyo

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OLDHAM has scooped a hat-trick of top design awards for a school, a housing development and a former vicarage.

The stunning £30 million Radclyffe School was crowned the best education building in the region — beating off competition from other schools, colleges and universities.

And the borough picked up two more of the 12 titles at Friday’s LABC (Local Authority Building Control) North West Region Building Excellence Awards.

Oldham-based Wiggett Homes won the best large housing development award for Harmony Street, Glodwick, while the Old Vicarage in Streethouse Lane, Dobcross, was the best domestic extension.

All three will now compete in the national finals in London on October 20.

Radclyffe School, in Hunt Lane, Chadderton, was officially opened by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

It replaced the former split site upper and lower schools under Oldham Council’s £97 million Private Finance Initiative deal which also included the new Failsworth School.

Built by Kier North West, it was designed to look like the Trafford Centre after pupils told architects what they wanted. Departments radiate from a glass-topped street and the mall theme continues with glass balustrades and flat-screen TVs to mimic shop windows.

Delighted head teacher Hardial Hayer collected the award at Bolton’s Reebok stadium and said: “This is wonderful news.

“The whole of the North-West has recognised what we knew already, that we have a brilliant building to learn and work in.

“The building is light, spacious and innovative, and it really is a pleasure to come to work.

“There are so many wow factors. Every time you walk in you see something new and you feel really proud.

“The pupils come to school with a much more positive attitude and this is reflected in the standards of work we have seen in the last 12 months.

“We know that this will impact on our results for many years to come.”

John Skirving, managing director of ACP (Architects CoPartnership) was the architect responsible for the school.

He said: “One of the best comments we had from the pupils was it did not look like a school.”