Using a range of high performance Crown Trade decorative coatings in bright, contemporary colourways, Bagnalls painted six flagship schools developed for Education Leeds.

In conjunction with main contractors Carillion, Bagnalls was awarded a £750,000 contract to decorate Carr Manor High School, South Leeds High School, Primrose High School, Shakespeare Primary, John Smeaton Community College and Ralph Thoresby High School.

Each of the new schools boast interiors that have more in common with design-led corporate premises than with traditional educational establishments. Architect Mike Varlow explained how the project was designed:

"Our objective was to create impressive and truly inspirational learning environments. Through the use of modern interior styling, fixtures and fittings and the confident use of strong colour palettes we wanted to design attractive 'business-like' settings that would help to promote effective learning and encourage positive pupil behaviours."

Deep aubergine was used at John Smeaton Community College. This distinctive and very contemporary colour welcomes visitors at the main entrance to the building and is a predominant shade in the interior design scheme for circulation areas.

Colour had an important functional role to play and different wall colours were used to delineate various areas of the schools and help pupils, staff and visitors to navigate their way around. Nowhere has this 'directional' use of colour been more important than at Ralph Thoresby, an 'inclusive' school with specialised resources and facilities to cater for physically disabled and visually impaired learners. Here strong and highly contrasting colours were used to help everyone find their way, even those with limited vision. The feature walls in the 'main street' running through the building are painted in bright blue, with a white 'tactile stripe' at waist level providing a secondary guiding feature. Strong yellow entrance areas denote primary circulation routes feeding off the main street and leading to classrooms.

Across all six schools, vibrant and distracting décor was avoided in the classrooms. These rooms are all light, bright and airy and calming pale neutrals were used to encourage concentration and effective learning. In each classroom we used a slightly darker colour for the 'learning wall' to help direct pupils' attention on the teacher and the whiteboard.

The Leeds Combined Secondary Schools Project is now complete and all six schools are fully operational. Mike Varlow says: "Bagnalls have done a fantastic job in each of the new buildings. We were delighted with their professionalism, the way they translated our vision and with their choice of Crown Trade decorative coatings, which provided the colour choice and quality of finish required."