News
GDST junior school wins gold in City Kids Green Awards 2025
Notting Hill and Ealing High School’s carbon-neutral Junior School is a groundbreaking example of sustainable architecture integrated with education. Designed with sustainability at its core, the building for junior girls sets a new standard for eco-friendly education environments.
The library of NHEHS's Junior school
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The atrium of NHEHS's Junior school
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The front of NHEHS's Junior school
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Junior Head Ms Bevan at the opening of new building in November 2023
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The fully accessible building features 14 classrooms, specialist spaces for music, art, science, computing, and a rooftop-lit library, all created to foster inside/outside learning. Its sustainable wooden frame is complemented by solar panels on the roof, while rooflights provide abundant daylight without excess heat gain.
Energy-efficient design elements include a highly insulated, airtight fabric, air source heat pumps, a heat recovery ventilation system, and noise-reducing woodwool insulation. With no gas usage onsite and solar panels already lowering electricity consumption, the school demonstrates true operational sustainability.
What the City Kids Green Awards 2025 judges said:
“Notting Hill and Ealing High School’s carbon-neutral Junior School is a groundbreaking example of sustainable architecture integrated with education. The school has created an inspiring, truly eco-friendly learning environment that physically embodies the impact of sustainability.” — Victoria Evans
“This remarkable environmentally friendly school building and grounds are a perfect example of living the legacy you want to leave – the ripple effects on the students, staff, visitors and environment will have long lasting effects for decades to come. Well done!” — Anita Worlidge
Sustainability at the GDST
Notting Hill & Ealing High School are part of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) – a family of 26 all girls’ schools – all sharing the GDST’s ambition to reduce its carbon footprint. Our work includes a strategy to deliver Net Zero by 2050, and we have already achieved CarbonNeutral® Organisation certification. We achieved this by off-setting our carbon footprint whilst we work towards significant reductions in our energy use. A dynamic green thread of sustainability is woven through everything we do and our One strategy aims to capture and amplify this holistic approach.
