Paces National Centre for Conductive Education

The Brief

Paces have been based at their High Green campus since 1997, a former secondary school in a poor state of repair which is well extended beyond its original buildings lifespan. The Campus is fully occupied and there is significant additional demand for their vital services throughout Sheffield, but due to the limited space at the current facility they are unable to develop their services further. A new state-of-the-art purpose built facility will allow the charity and school to deliver better support for families, children and adults living with Cerebral Palsy and motor disorders.

The Design

We have worked closely with the charity in developing a design with a welcoming, caring environment, that works with the safe segregation of the groups, and has dignity, fairness and inclusivity to all at its heart. There is a community element to the project with a shared heart space, cafe and shop, hydrotherapy pool, therapy spaces and multipurpose meeting rooms. The scheme also provides assisted living accommodation for 20 people.

Externally the language of the building has been developed to provide the new facility with a unique identity. The front facing aspect has been designed to provide a strong visual impact, which welcomes and directs users to the building entrance. In-house animation and renders were effectively utilised to convey the aspirations of the scheme to the Trustee.

The Outcome

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver an environment that will enable our school team to optimise the development and education of our children, students and young adults.” Colin Harris, Chair of Governors at Paces School

“We’re proud to have been at the forefront of the development of Conductive Education but we know that there is more demand for our care than we are currently able to support. Moving to a new site, still at the heart of South Yorkshire, will be a big change for us – we’re proud of our High Green roots – but we need to make the leap to turn our vision of a National Centre of Excellence for Conductive Education a reality.” Dr Spencer Pitfield, Chief Executive of Paces

A major fundraising campaign to allow the project to move forwards has launched and it is hoped the new build will open in September 2022.