Arden Grove Infant School

Having won eco-awards at both local and national levels, Arden Grove Infant School in Hellesdon, Norwich commissioned an eco-building for their grounds.

The cob roundhouse was for use as an art studio as well as a base for outside learning and demonstrated that a building could be constructed completely with environmentally-friendly materials.

A team of builders from Earthed, a company which specialises in cob buildings worked on site, teaching and promoting sustainable building skills with the children.

A green roof was the obvious choice for the roundhouse.

Lindum supplied and installed Lindum Wildflower Mat to create a sustainable green roof for the building.

The roundhouse now provides a meeting point at the school for pupils before they explore the outside environment and undertake art and design activities. Lindum Wildflower Mat was chosen as it fits perfectly with the surrounding environment.

“Using Lindum Wildflower Mat provides a colourful and diverse plant life to attract different species and it also appealing in that it has reduced maintenance for our clients. We also find the service with Lindum very good and have been pleased with the results so far.”

Annabel Fawcus, Earthed

The school funded the project through the support of a grant from Broadland District Council and donations from firms and charitable trusts including Reeves Property Restoration, Fitzmaurice Trust, Paul Bassham Charitable Trust, Stonecraft of Aylsham, Veolia Environmental Services, Norwich Town Close Estate Charity, NSJ Designs Limited and Creative Partnerships.

Daniel Thrower, Head Teacher at Arden Grove, said, ‘‘The roof was recommended to us as being the best one on the market. It is easy to maintain and gives us a wonderful colourful appearance all year around. Having a building with a living roof has provoked the children to question why more roofs are not green and why roofs are still made from conventional materials.’’