A BREEAM Outstanding new Junior School for a leading independent education trust.

The home of the touring theatre company for young people with complex disabilities, Oily Cart, is located within the Annexe of a Grade II-listed school in South London (Smallwood School) and recently underwent a refurbishment, with a large part of the existing building fabric retained.

Full design and acoustics for an exceptional new learning and events centre

A 1,550sqm building split over seven levels, designed as a flexible learning space. Natural daylight and ventilation, along with thermal mass ensure comfort while a closed-loop ground source system, partially powered by a PV array, provides efficient thermal management. Achieved BREEAM Excellent.

ORTUS is a new learning and events centre based in Camberwell, South London, adjacent to the world-renowned Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital and King's College London. Striking architectural features and sustainable technologies underpin this learning environment, which houses teaching and conference facilities, a community café and exhibition spaces.

Conceived as a free-standing pavilion, the building features multi-functional spaces arranged at half-level intervals and connected through a central atrium. Strategic window placement and floor level offsets, allow natural daylight to flood the interior while managing solar gain to prevent overheating. To enhance comfort and efficiency, the building employs both manual and automated natural ventilation systems. Additionally, the use of profiled soffit and exposed fair-faced concrete brickwork maximises the benefits of thermal mass, further stabilising indoor temperatures and reducing reliance on mechanical cooling. 

A sophisticated closed-loop ground source installation with seven 120-meter vertical loops efficiently provides thermal management for both heating and cooling needs. This system is partially powered by a roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) array, which contributes to the building's renewable energy supply. An integrated KNX system is employed to manage the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems along with lighting, ensuring precise control and optimisation of energy use throughout the building. 

Ortus achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent' and is EPC ‘A'-rated, ranking highest for sustainability among all National RIBA Award winners in the Architects Journal 2014. Beyond these credentials, the centre provides a flexible learning environment, promoting connectivity and community through thoughtful space planning and cutting-edge technologies, making it a truly holistic and forward-thinking space.

Awards

2013 – Brick Awards Best Education Building Winner
2013 – Brick Awards Supreme Winner
2013 – WAN Awards – Civic Buildings Shortlisted
2013 – WAN Awards – Effectiveness Shortlisted
2013 – ACA’s PPC Innovation in Partnering Awards Highly Commended
2014 – British Construction Industry Awards Building Project of the Year (up to £10M) Winner
2014 – British Construction Industry ‘Best Practice’ Award Shortlisted
2014 – British Construction Industry ‘Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award’ Shortlisted
2014 – RIBA National Award Winner
2014 – RIBA Stirling Prize Mid-listed
2014 – RIBA London Regional Award Winner
2014 – New London Awards - Best in Education Winner
2014 – Civic Trust Award Winner
2014 – Building Better Healthcare Awards – Grand Prix Design Winner
2014 – Building Better Healthcare Awards – Best Mental Healthcare Development

News

* Read  ORTUS nominated for EU prize *

This project involved designing a new Performing Arts Centre for the EPC A-rated, Perse School in Cambridge.

Skelly & Couch has completed Stage 4 design at the Grade II*-listed Rhodes House, Oxford, for a new world-class convening hub designed to encourage the global exchange of ideas across all cultures and nationalities.

Garden Science Hub with Public Exhibition, Garden Science Hub with Public Exhibition, Members Library and Archive Space.

A 4,700m² hilltop building, featuring a roof terrace at the highest point of celebrated gardens within a significant Green Belt landscape, includes advanced research labs, libraries, and classrooms. Future-proof services for the building, gardens and the wider infrastructure were provided.

The RHS Hilltop development is the UK's first dedicated centre for horticultural and environmental science, featuring research labs, exhibition spaces, libraries, classrooms, an herbarium, and a café.

Skelly & Couch provided energy modelling, environmental design, and daylight and overheating analysis, drawing on experience from projects at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Wakehurst Place. Working closely with garden designers, they created a climate-resilient, future-proof infrastructure for the Hilltop gardens and wider site.

The building’s design maximises natural light and ventilation through rooflights, while exposed thermal mass supports passive cooling, and high-specification glazing minimises summer overheating. A sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) integrates ponds, infiltration trenches, basins, and swales into the landscape, with possible links to an irrigation storage pond.

To mitigate noise from the nearby A3 road, the herbarium archive is enclosed by thick walls, stabilising temperatures, while ground-coupled air ducts and hygroscopic materials further manage humidity, ensuring optimal conditions.

Active design measures further enhance the building’s sustainability, cooling draws on the site's irrigation system, using river and borehole water; and energy-saving features include photovoltaic cells offsetting 10% of the building's carbon emissions, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and coordinated power supplies to minimise voltage drop.

Beyond delivering MEP and sustainability services for the new building, Skelly & Couch also designed MEP, SUDs and drainage systems for the surrounding gardens and the wider infrastructure masterplan.  The building form created three primary gardens— The Health and Wellbeing Garden (designed by Matt Keightley), The Wildlife Garden and The World Food Garden (both designed by Ann-Marie Powell) —along with smaller teaching and convening spaces.

RHS Wisley creates a sustainable hub for research, education, and community, with a harmonious integration of the building and landscape.

Awards

2021 – Guildford Design Award Winner Public Realm.

2021 – Guildford Design Award Winner Public Realm.

2022 – WAN Awards – Civic Institutes and Community Space Bronze.

2022 – AJ Architecture Award Finalist – Civic projects.

2023 – Civic Trust Award Regional Finalist.

2023 – Selwyn Goldsmith Award Finalist.

2023 – RIBA South East Award Winner.

An AJ Architecture Awards 2022 finalist in the Civic Projects category. A Regional Finalist for both a 2023 Civic Trust Award and a Selwyn Goldsmith Award for Universal Design. Winner of a 2023 RIBA South East Award. See the judges' citation: https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/regional-awards-2023-south-east-wilkinsoneyre-rhs-hilltop-culture-entertainment

The historic Richmond Adult Community College, which has its roots in the late 19th century (1895), has been given a new and sustainable lease of life by an impressive refurbishment and new-build development, meeting the highest standards of energy efficiency.

The Royal Greenwich University Technical College is a co-educational college for 600 14-18 year-olds. The UTC specialises in engineering and construction, with a particular focus on transport and sustainable technology, equipping students with vital technical skills that lead to apprenticeships, higher education or employment. 

The project is a new-build teaching block for Ryde School on the Isle of Wight. The new build incorporates ADT workshops, arts studios, a visitor reception and new kitchen and dining facilities for the school. It also relieves congestion and improves the entrance to the school by providing a car-free courtyard.

A new student accommodation building at Greenwich Peninsula. Skelly & Couch was appointed to provide full mechanical, electrical, public health and environmental services for the client on this design and build.