Solar School, Wallasey

   The architect Elmslie Morgan used direct gain passive solar heating in this building in 1961. The entire southern facade is double glazed to collect the solar energy falling upon it. Thick concrete floors store the heat, good insulation reduces the rate of heat loss, and solar control blinds prevent overheating. It was the first school in the United Kingdom to be solar heated. When energy costs escalated, its fuel bills were just half those of similar conventionally heated schools. Its ideology stimulated the later more widespread construction of low energy-consuming buildings having a minimum environmental impact.

   See also: environmentalism

   ROY WORMALD