Thursday 20th July marked a significant day for our school, the completion of our campus redevelopment project which commenced in 2012.
The project’s aim was to address the challenges presented by a campus that, whilst containing a number of fine listed buildings, was in need of significant renovation. In addition, the site lacked many of the facilities required for a high quality modern education.
The campus redevelopment project looked to meet a number of challenges:
- the issues caused by the age of the buildings and their deteriorating state,
- existing facilities being unfit for a modern school,
- the need for more teaching space to answer the demand for more secondary school places,
- the impact of poor facilities, not only on the learning environment, but also on the student and staff recruitment,
- ensuring that the school is future-proof both in terms of the quality of its provision and its premises,
- maintaining the historic site and preserving the character of the local Conservation Area.
Construction on Phase 1 began in 2018 and was completed in 2020. Phase 1 included a Science Centre, Maths and Humanities building, and a new reception and entrance area. Phase 2 started in 2021 and includes the creation of a sports hall beneath the courtyard, a new courtyard and a Creative Arts Centre, including music practice rooms, music classrooms, a recording studio, art rooms and a fully equipped multi-purpose performance space.
The quality of the new buildings is exceptional and the school has been well served by a design team led by the architects Hawkins\Brown; Gardiner & Theobald as project managers and the project contractors, Gilbert-Ash.