LIKE a phoenix from the flames, Copleston High School is rising again.These images show the proposed classrooms and staff areas which could replace the buildings destroyed by fire last summer.

LIKE a phoenix from the flames, Copleston High School is rising again.

These images show the proposed classrooms and staff areas which could replace the buildings destroyed by fire last summer.

They depict the new staff area on the top floor and new classrooms on the middle floor with a completely redesigned student reception, open area and student cloakroom on the ground floor.

Planning permission was submitted in February and the school hopes to receive the thumbs-up from council bosses at the end of March or beginning of April.

The Ipswich school is currently in the process of deciding on fixtures, finishes and fittings.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage were caused when former pupil Ashley Norman torched classrooms, science labs and staff areas at Copleston High School in August last year.

Sections of the art deco building had to be knocked down after structural engineers deemed them unsafe.

Norman, 18, of Clifford Road, pleaded guilty to arson at Ipswich Crown Court at the end of January. He will remain in custody until he is sentenced in June, by which time a 16-year-old co-defendant - who cannot be named because of his age - will have stood trial for the same offence.

Headteacher Laurie Robinson said: “I'm very pleased with the concept. The architects have interpreted our brief in an imaginative way.

“We are looking to rebuild with modern, lightweight materials but maintain the architectural integrity of the original art deco building.”

What do you think of the proposals? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk