Zentia discusses how its high-performance ceiling systems have benefitted Morley Meadows primary school in Plymouth and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg secondary school in Barry.

Education is returning to its rightful place on the national agenda now steps are being taken to improve access, outcomes, and opportunities for children across the UK as they return to school in the post-Covid era.

While the emphasis has traditionally been on resources and teaching quality, the role of the immediate environment is becoming even more important in helping students learn in spaces where the focus is now more than ever on wellbeing, with acoustics, light reflectance, low VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and cleanability at the forefront.

Here, Zentia examines how the specification of appropriate ceiling systems have helped two very different schools.

Morley Meadows
A new school for a new community in Plymouth has relied on Zentia’s ceiling solutions for delivering both form and function. Some 1,200m² of Zentia’s Perla OP 0.95 Tegular tiles, which were the first mineral tile in the world to win Cradle to Cradle status, feature in the classrooms, offices, stores and communal areas at state-of-the-art Morley Meadows primary school.

Part of Persimmon Homes’ Saltram Meadows development in Plymstock, the £5.8m primary school also features Zentia’s 100% humidity-resistant Hydroboard tiles with Prelude 24 non-corrosive grid in the kitchen, showers, toilets and changing areas.

Designed by Stride Treglown architects, the two-form entry school accommodates 420 pupils, with part of it able to be cordoned off so it can be used by other community groups out of hours.

Specialist sub-contractor Vizion Interiors installed a total of 1,650m² of the Zentia products on ceilings, that in the main part, are sloped to 35° to mimic the sloping roof.

For form, the Perla OP 0.95 tile features a smooth, low-gloss monolithic visual with best-in-class fully painted edges for additional aesthetics as well as durability. The tile also features high light reflectance (up to 86%) to reduce reliance on artificial light and Class A acoustic performance to sound absorption 0.95αw.

For function, Perla OP 0.95 also provides optimum indoor air quality (due to ultra-low A+ VOC emissions) and is manufactured from up to 64% recycled content and fully recyclable. Hydroboard also features Class A acoustic performance to sound absorption 0.95αw and light reflectance of 82%.

Vizion Interiors’ contracts manager Andy West said, “The Zentia products were already specified, but we would have put them forward regardless because they are superior products which are more readily available.”

Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg
A plethora of Zentia products met a multitude of challenges at a redeveloped Welsh school. Five square-edged mineral products from Zentia were used on the £20m regeneration of Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg school in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, that included additional BB93 accommodation for 300 pupils.

The modernisation and upgrade of facilities at the school saw the construction of five new extensions, including a design and technology teaching block, new sports hall, and reception area and dining hall.

Zentia’s Perla tiles, which feature light reflectance of 86%, were used in the corridors and circulation spaces, while sister Perla dB tiles, which perform to sound absorption Class C, featured in the classrooms.

Antimicrobial Bioguard Acoustic tiles, which also perform to sound absorption Class C, were used in the food technology classrooms, and Bioguard tiles, which can be used in clean rooms with ISO 5 classification in accordance with ISO 14644-1:1999, in the kitchens.

Finally, Hydroboard tiles, which are 100% humidity resistant and perform to sound absorption Class A, were used with a Prelude non-corrosive suspension grid in the changing rooms and toilets.

They were selected by Austin Smith Lord Architects, who has specified Zentia many times before for school projects, as they met the aesthetic and acoustic requirements of this particular 11,000m² steel-framed scheme.

Specialist subcontractor Richard Kemble Contracts, who is a member of Zentia’s Pinnacle partnership scheme, installed a total of 7,168m² of Zentia products.

Richard Kemble said, “Zentia provided technical backup as some classrooms needed to have additional acoustic rating so further calculations were carried out and the Perla dB tile was specified and used to maintain the optimum levels of acoustic performance.”

Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg won a ‘Highly Commended’ across the Value and Sustainability categories in the 2021 Constructing Excellence Wales awards. It was also a finalist in the Digital Construction and Innovation awards. The Vale of Glamorgan were also a finalist in the ‘Client of the Year’ award category and the council’s 21st Century Schools programme was also a finalist in the Integration and Collaborative Working and Value’ categories.

Contact Details
For more information, please call 0800 371849, email, or visit the Zentia website.