The Jonathan Silver Building opened its doors for the start of the autumn term on 7 September 2015. This is the first significant new building to be constructed within Saltaire for 129 years.

The new building is located within a conservation area, and borders the Saltaire World Heritage Site. Our design is contemporary, sustainable and high-quality, complementing its historic surroundings, without challenging them. We worked closely with the Council's Senior Conservation Officer and the Saltaire World Heritage Officer to create the best design.

The £2 million centre will provide a purpose built contemporary educational setting for young people who have high needs. A key design consideration has been to enable young people who have learning and mobility difficulties to receive the education they deserve by reducing everyday barriers that they often face.

The modern design draws upon and adds to the historic context without challenging the neighbouring buildings. This has been achieved using a harmonised palette of natural materials including locally quarried stone, zinc roofing to simulate Victorian lead roofing and a living roof.

In addition, the College’s popular Horticultural Sector has benefitted from a brand new multispan greenhouse which showcases the latest in glasshouse technology. This will be of great benefit to the new intake of green-fingered students.

Our design includes many eco-elements including; a sedum roof and an energy efficient new greenhouse. The buildings sedum roof, the surrounding beech hedges and the planned new planting ensures the same proportion of the site remains 'green', maintaining its level of biodiversity. The building is also so highly insulated it only requires a small domestic boiler for heat and it is passively ventilated using stacks that emulate the surrounding chimneys prominent within Saltaire. The heat which is generated as a by-product from the server room chillers is used to heat the new greenhouse complex in the cooler months, and the water from the roof is collected to water the greenhouse.  The green design will mean low CO2 emissions and low running costs which ensures that the new building’s carbon footprint is minimal.

Rance Booth Smith were Lead Consultant, Architect, Interior Designer, CDM Coordinator and Dynamic Simulation Modeller for the project.

The Jonathan Silver Building received the Best Education Building Award at the 2016 LABC West Yorkshire Building Excellence Awards and was also shortlisted for the Community Benefit Award at the 2016 Yorkshire and Humber RICS Awards.

Shipley College plays an integral role in Saltaire, not only as an education provider and employer, but also maintaining many of the village’s historic, listed buildings. Rance Booth Smith Architects have acted as Property Consultants to the College since 1993, advising on all property matters including; the design of new buildings, alterations and adaptations and planned maintenance.