Major Expansion Project – Harrogate Grammar School
Harrogate Grammar School/Red Kite Learning Trust
Bowman Riley designed a major expansion project at Harrogate Grammar School to increase space following growing demand for pupil places at this high performing academy.
We designed a new building to connect the 1930s school building to a 1960s design block with three classrooms on the first floor and a large atrium below, which forms the new student entrance. The project means the school can increase the number of places available to 290 annually.
The project infills an external courtyard to reuse space within the footprint of the 1930s building with the new double-height central atrium space providing flexible teaching and exhibition space, with three new general teaching classrooms at first-floor level. This has created naturally light-filled spaces with natural ventilation to create a sustainable environment.
The new spaces improve circulation through the school and provide a new student-focused entrance. Previously students, staff and visitors all had to use the same narrow entrance. A key driver for the project was to improve connections throughout the existing school, therefore, as part of our designs, we reworked the existing floor levels to improve accessibility.
The project began in January 2020 and was completed in the October despite the challenges brought on by the lockdown period as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Headteacher, Neil Renton said:
“We are indebted to the professionalism of the architects’ Bowman Riley and Sewell Construction… From the very start, we were impressed with the entire team. This was a complex build at the very heart of the school that resulted in significant changes to the movement of over 2,000 students around the school site. I am really proud of what has been achieved. The way in which all the teams involved have come together has been a masterclass in collaboration, expert knowledge and providing the very best for children.”
Click here to read an article about this project in the local media.
Photography credit: the Sewell Group: https://sewell-group.co.uk/