THE first artist's impression of what a new £30m school will look like has been released.

Building work is due to start on Richmond School within weeks and the sixth form block should be complete next summer, with the rest finished by 2010.

The new buildings will replace the existing school in Darlington Road, and will allow pupils to relocate from the lower school in Station Road.

North Yorkshire County Council says that the new school, which will have the latest green technology, will be a national showpiece and a pattern for new campuses across the UK.

About £2m has been set aside to make the school, which will be built by Shepherd's Construction, environmentally sustainable. It will include wind turbines, solar panels, biomass boilers, ground source heat pumps and a metallic curtain walling system.

The building has been aligned to reap maximum benefit from the sun for heating and natural ventilation.

Measures are also in place to make the construction process environmentally friendly, with recycling of material from the demolition, use of displaced soil for landscaping, use of local building materials and waste reduction.

A Grade Two listed 1930s building will be retained and incorporated into the design.

Twenty per cent of the school's energy will come from renewable sources and local authorities throughout the UK will be invited to use the school as a model for sustainability under the Department for Children, Schools and Families' Single School Pathfinder programme.

A further £2m will buy computer equipment for the school's 1,700 students.

Councillor John Watson, the county council's executive member with responsibility for schools, said: "This is a forward thinking school and we have appointed a forward thinking contractor to oversee the project.

"This is a major project for Richmond and the wider North Yorkshire community.

"The school will provide students with the best teaching facilities and open up opportunities for leisure and education for those who live in the area."