CURRENTLY a building site, this time next year the new Livingstone Academy in Bournemouth will be an “oasis for learning”.

Located on Madeira and Stafford Roads, the £28.5million transformation is currently underway on the site once home to the Magistrates’ court, grade two listed coroner’s court and a police station.

It is the designs of architect Giancarlo Pesiri which will be used to create the country’s first state-of-the-art digital academy with a focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics).

The school is the vision of games entrepreneur Ian Livingstone CBE and Steve and Paula Kenning, CEOs of Aspirations Academies Trust.

However, it is Mr Pesiri and his colleague Lucinda Colegate at Noviun Architects who have been entrusted to bring their ideas to life.

The academy will be awash with new paving, a courtyard, seating areas and greenery from planters, trees and landscaping all of which will be used to create boundaries. Mr Pesiri said the overall feel would be that of an “oasis of learning in Bournemouth’s city centre”.

The Magistrates Court will be turned into a primary school, the coroner’s court will become a sixth form and the police station will be cleared to create an art secondary school complete with multi-sports facilities.

Mr Pesiri said: “This project is a marriage between old and new and is a great example of repurposing. Inside the Magistrates’ Court there will be open plan classrooms and a contemporary learning environment.

“It was originally a grey 1960s building, but the outside is going to look very different. It will have coloured windows and big canopies and we will be using interior design to brighten up the building.

“It is over four levels and there will be different colours per level so there is an identity for the different year groups. The lower ground floor will be turned into a library and there will be innovation rooms complete with 3D printers and laser cutters.

“The new building will be the secondary school and it will be state-of-the art. There will be plenty of break-out spaces for project-based learning, creative thinking and innovation rooms.

“The sixth form will retain all the original wood panelling, all the original seating and benches from the Coroners court. There are lots of high ceilings in this building which make for great art rooms and lecture spaces.”

There will be play decks throughout, including one with an astro turf. There will also be a multi-sports facility on the ground floor of the secondary building and a two court sports hall

Miss Colegate said: “The site is a unique space. Sometimes when you’re in an all-through school it can feel like you’re in the same building all the way through your time there. At Livingstone Academy, there will be a different building for each of the three stages: primary, secondary and sixth form.”

The school will open in September 2021 and 150 places are available for Year 7 and 60 for Reception. Email office@livingstone-aspirations.org for details.