Weavers Academy – SEN Hub Refurbishment

    Overview

Weavers Academy needed a dedicated space that could better support the growing SEN requirements within the school, while also responding to the wider demand for specialist educational provision across Northamptonshire.

The existing sixth form block provided an opportunity to repurpose an underused area of the school and transform it into a purpose-designed SEN hub. The project focused on creating a welcoming, flexible and supportive environment where pupils could learn, regulate, study and receive additional support away from the busier areas of the school.

    The Solution

The former sixth form block was redesigned to accommodate several different activities and levels of support within one cohesive SEN department.

At the heart of the hub is a large mixed-use main room, incorporating defined areas for learning, soft seating and regulation. The layout allows pupils and staff to move naturally between different activities while maintaining a feeling of structure and separation.

Dedicated study areas provide quieter spaces for focused work, while separate offices give the SEN department team the privacy and practical facilities they need to support pupils effectively.

Furniture, layout and colour were considered together rather than in isolation. This helped create clearly identifiable zones without making the environment feel divided or institutional.

The nature-inspired palette runs throughout the scheme, giving the SEN hub a consistent visual identity and helping create a softer, more calming atmosphere.

    The Vision

The vision was to create an SEN hub that felt noticeably different from a conventional classroom environment.

The space needed to be calm, comfortable and reassuring while still providing everything required for learning and day-to-day SEN provision. It also needed its own identity within the academy, helping pupils recognise it as a dedicated environment designed around their needs.

A colour palette inspired by the natural world was chosen to help create this sense of calm, using softer, more considered tones rather than the brighter colours typically associated with busy school environments.

    The Outcome

The completed SEN hub has transformed an existing area of Weavers Academy into a dedicated, purposeful environment designed around the changing needs of its pupils and SEN team.

The combination of flexible learning spaces, quieter study areas, regulation zones, comfortable seating and dedicated staff facilities means the hub can accommodate a wide range of activities throughout the school day.

Most importantly, the former sixth form block now has a completely new purpose and identity: a welcoming, considered SEN environment that provides pupils with somewhere to learn, focus, regulate and receive support within a setting designed specifically for them.