Fairwater’s landmark education campus hits key milestone in £110m build

The brand-new Fairwater Community Campus has accomplished its topping out milestone, as construction reaches the highest point at the new£110m pioneering education campusin Fairwater.

Funded by Cardiff Council and Welsh Government, the new development is the city’s largest in scale and investment of Cardiff’s education developments to be delivered under the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

The scheme includes the construction of three new build schools for Cantonian High School, Riverbank School and Woodlands High School,all situated on the single site in Fairwater.

To mark the milestone, Cardiff Council’s Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas and Cardiff’s Cabinet Member for Education Cllr Sarah Merry were joined at the site of the new campus byCantonian High School, Headteacher Diane Gill and Chair of Governors, Barbara Connell together withExecutive Headteacher, Wayne Murphy,and Chair of GovernorsBianca Reesfrom the Western Learning Federation, of whichRiverbank School and Woodlands High School are both a part of.

Other guests included Cardiff Council officers, School Governors, Welsh Government representatives, local councillors, members from the ISG team -the contractor chosen to build and design the new school, and valued partners including MACE, HLM, ARUP, ASL, Churngold, Cardiff Demolition and Morgans of Usk.

Children from all three of the schools joined the celebrations with pupils providing musical and singing performances.

Cardiff Council’s Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas said: ” Bringing together Cantonian, Woodlands and Riverbank Schools on one site known as Fairwater Community Campus, will provide a distinct combination of learning as part of this unique and ambitious plan.

“The first of its kind for Cardiff, this joint education campus will be one of the most educationally advanced institutions in the UK. Each school will be able to keep its identity and will benefit from shared facilities, expertise and teaching opportunities to deliver an exceptional experience for students, staff and their communities.

“Delivered under our Band B Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, the new campus represents significant investment in Cardiff’s education. Itsupports the Council’s Stronger Fairer Greener’ commitments and meets the aspirations set out in the Cardiff 2030 vision, where all children and young people in Cardiff experience high-quality education and develop the knowledge, skills and attributes that enable them to become personally successful, and globally-engaged citizens.

“Our largest Net Zero Carbon school, this project supports our response to the climate change emergency and aligns with Cardiff’s One Planet vision to become Carbon Neutral by 2030.”

Cardiff’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education added,“This topping out event marks an exciting milestone for the futures all three schools which are proudly part of the new Fairwater Community Campus, and who have all been integral to the planning and vision for the new campus.

“We are now starting to see designs turned into reality and the plans for this ambitious scheme have given consideration to the diverse range of learner needs so that they feel safe with a clear sense of individuality, and that they can recognise the importance of belonging not only to their individual school but also, to the wider campus. Importantly, the development will see an increase of education places for mainstream pupils as well as pupils with Additional Learning Needs, helping to meet demand across the city.

“Not only providing pupils with access to state-of-the art facilities and the highest quality learning environment, the scheme also represents a significant investment in the Fairwater area, ensuring the local community will also benefit from excellent, modern amenities.”

Richard Skone, Regional Director for ISG’s Construction business in Wales, commented: “Reaching the topping out milestone at the Fairwater Community Campus is a significant achievement for all the partners involved in this transformative project. This development, funded by Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government, highlights our shared commitment to building state-of-the-art, sustainable learning environments as part of the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

“This event marks the significant progress we have made to move from concept vision to reality, creating a campus that not only delivers modern, high-quality educational facilities that are Net Zero, but also promotes a strong sense of community for students, staff, and local residents.”

Construction began in February 2023 and when completed,the new campus will include:

• Replacing the Cantonian High School buildings with new build accommodation on the same site expanding the school from six forms of entry (6FE) to eight forms of entry (8FE) with sixth form provision for up to 250 pupils.
• Expanding the Specialist Resource Base (SRB) for learners with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), hosted at Cantonian High School to 30 places in purpose built accommodation in the new school buildings.
• Relocating Woodlands High School to the Fairwater Campus site from its current site adjacent to Trelai Park and increasing the capacity to 240 places in new build accommodation.
• Relocating Riverbank School to the Fairwater Campus site from its current site adjacent to Trelai Park and increasing the capacity to 112 places in new build accommodation.

The campus will also offer comprehensive facilities which will be available for public use outside of school hours.

The development willbe Net Zero Carbonin line with Welsh Government standards and will set the standard for future Cardiff school projects. Each of the three schools will be in highly energy efficient buildings that are powered from renewable energy sources, enabling Cardiff todeliver on its One Planet Strategy, which outlines the city’s ambition tomitigate climate change. The construction works have been undertaken with great regards to the local and surrounding area  with social value commitments including:

• An all-electric building, powered by renewable energy (air source heat pump and photovoltaics on the roof generating over 900,000 kWh of energy a year)
• 100% waste has been diverted from landfill
• Over 6 tonnes of timber have been donated to local charity (Community Wood)
• The use of low carbon concrete (70% GGBS) and electric arc rebar (99% recycled) has been used throughout the structure leading to 15% reduction in embodied carbon against the Welsh Government baseline
• 86% of the workforce are from within a 30-mile radius
• 9 people have gained work from long term employment
• 12 apprentices have been involved with the project, and more are planned
• There has been over 800 hours of school engagement with the project so far.

It is anticipated that works on the campus will be completed by Autumn 2026 with works on Cantonian High School completing by the end of 2025.