WORK on the new shop and cafe for Fairfield Farm College is driving ahead, with the college hoping to open their innovative new building in September.
The vision of the project has been to create an ecologically friendly and innovative new facility including a cafe, extended shop, and additional facilities to the community, as well as enhancing the college’s teaching facilities for the benefit of the students.
The new build will house the college’s main entrance, new shop and cafe, kitchen, and conference room, as well as teaching rooms for the college, which has 38 students with learning disabilities. The students will work in the shop and cafe under supervision from their tutors, as they develop skills to help them in adult life in the community.
The college’s shop has outgrown its previous home in the greenhouse, and the college is thrilled at the opportunities the new build will give them.
Andy Down of Fairfield Farm College explained, “The greenhouse wasn’t really fit for purpose. People would come and buy their plants and want more and it came to the point where we really need to do something, so we decided to do it properly!
“In the shop we’ll have a deli counter, garden centre area, food and groceries – organic where possible, and household cleaning products which will all be eco-friendly. We’re also doing something quite innovative here – you can buy in bulk as well as coming back to refill – there’s been a lot of interest in that.
“We’ll be having fresh fruit and veg, dairy, and bread, and where possible, produce will be locally sourced, organic, and fairtrade.”
The adjacent cafe is designed as a spacious, family-friendly area, and will offer everything from freshly brewed coffee and homemade cakes to light lunches such as jacket potatoes, sandwiches, baguettes, and salads. The cafe also plans to serve a hot meal of the day as well as various specials. The cafe plans to have wifi access and an area for children, along with outdoor seating.
The whole project has been carefully designed to fit in with the existing part of the college, whilst incorporating modern technology. The roof’s solar panels will not only allow it to be self sufficient, but will also allow them to feed energy back into the national grid, while the new build will benefit from underfloor heating.
Andy said, “We’re trying to be ethical and ecologically friendly with everything we’re doing. It’s a brand new build but fits in, we’ve put a lot of thought into the landscaping as well as making the effort to keep everything eco friendly.
“The whole project started around three years ago and our students have seen it all developing and are very, very happy about it. Our final year students are quite disappointed they’re going to leave before it opens – they keep asking if they can come back to work in it!”
