Birchwood High School, Bishop’s Stortford

Founded in 1991, Birchwood High School is a mixed converter academy for students from KS3 through to sixth-form. Located in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, the school holds a 95% success rate for post-18 students accepted into their first choice University, with 36% Russell Group Universities.

External queuing during lunchtime periods is a daily requirement for students at Birchwood High School to ease congestion from the school’s dining facilities. While safely maintaining an orderly student flow in high traffic areas was a priority for the school, a lack of overhead cover meant that this solution could be less than ideal, exposing students to inclement weather or, conversely, UV rays on sunny days. 

As a result, the school was looking for a structure that could fit the available space and provide cover for their students. Working alongside the team at Birchwood High School, a consultation process comprising a site survey of the available space enabled Streetspace to develop a location plan and propose a TRITON Mono Cantilever Steel Frame Canopy to act as a covered walkway and meet the school’s requirements.

The flexibility of a freestanding TRITON Walkway canopy easily accommodates changes in direction to meet specific site requirements and constraints. The structure combines functionality with a lightweight, modular design that is cantilevered to follow the adjoining building, offering linear covered space alongside minimal structural support posts in order to reduce obstruction.

Providing essential cover and protection for the queuing students, the walkway canopy has an advanced multiwall polycarbonate roofing system with a high-performance UV absorption layer to the outer surface. A highly durable polyester powder coating applied in anthracite grey to the canopy’s steelwork, guttering and downpipes, provides consistency of design and effective coordination with surrounding buildings.