A new school building described by students as 'designed to perfection' was officially opened last week.

On November 23, Lord Andrew Adonis declared the new building at Oasis Academy Coulsdon open.

The £18.7m redevelopment programme was carried out by contractors Willmott Dixon and started 18 months ago, transforming the original 1960s school into a centre of learning for both the students and local community.

The school say the new building has been designed with teaching and learning at the forefront of all construction decisions, and the state of the art learning spaces have been created to meet the needs of learners of all ages.

The environmentally sustainable development has been designed to achieve an 'Excellent' BREEAM rating and at least 10 percent of the Academy's energy needs is supplied by onsite renewable sources.

During the grand opening Lord Adonis unveiled a plaque, before spending two hours touring the building, meeting students and staff, and watching performances of gymnastics, dance and music.

He told students the building was inspirational, and there was nothing holding them back from making great achievements.

David Millar, Principal of the school, said: "This is one of the proudest moments of my career and the culmination of so much hard work by so many people.

"This building has been lovingly designed to help us achieve our Mission and Vision of being truly outstanding.

"As committed staff we continually ask ourselves 'Is this good enough for my children' and now in terms of the facilities and community hub, we can confidently say it is."