The Academy of St Francis of Assisi is a joint foundation of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Dioceses of Liverpool, providing teaching for students aged 11 to 16. This unique flagship academy – the first to specialise in the environment – puts sustainable ideals into practice by offering parents the chance of a green-focused education for their children, in addition to the normal national curriculum.

Seting a new benchmark for sustainable, low-energy design, one of the academy's most striking environmental initiatives is a turfed grass roof that helps keep the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The building makes extensive use of passive control methods to create a high quality, user-friendly learning environment. Concrete walls and exposed concrete ceilings provide the thermal mass needed to regulate the internal climate and reduce the need for cooling systems. An ETFE foil atrium incorporated into the south-facing façade provides the benefits of natural daylight and passive solar heating.

To conserve natural resources in the operation of the building, other renewable energy solutions used include rainwater collection tanks, solar water heaters for wash basins and showers, low-flush toilets, passive infra red (PIR) controls to switch off unused lights and photovoltaic panels to produce electricity. Gardens, which pupils are charged with cultivating, are attached to a number of the classrooms.

Date: 2004 - 2005