Watling Academy

Watling Academy is a £40m purpose-built secondary school that serves the Western Expansion Area (WEA) of Milton Keynes for 11–16-year-olds. Milton Keynes Council funded the three-story building in the area as part of the Whitehouse Development scheme.

Pinnacle provided the fitted classroom furniture and specialist packages such as design technology equipment, fume cupboards, and bespoke joinery.

The bespoke main reception desk is the first element of furniture a visitor to the school sees. The impressive double-height space incorporates the Corian worktop with a glassed-faced base and sliding glass screen system above. This glass wall allows the reception to be closed off during activities outside school hours. We also introduced branded colours into the rooms in line with the corporate strategy, to deliver a contemporary and inviting place for students and teachers.

The coronavirus pandemic presented obvious challenges during construction. However, the use of interactive visuals and VR facilitated the progress of this flagship project and worked well during our client engagement meetings.