Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School is a leading co-educational public school near Bath. While at Nick Shipp Architects, William Green and Thomas Jarman were instrumental in the design and technical delivery of various projects across different sites and in the long-term plan for the school’s facilities through their Estates Review Group.
Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 and today has around 500 students across pre-prep, prep and secondary schools. Monkton has an extraordinary ethos in which a culture of self-confidence is underpinned by powerful humility to ensure that above all else pupils have integrity.
The school’s facilities and buildings are spread across several sites in the villages of Monkton Combe and Combe Down. While at Nick Shipp Architects in Bath, William Green and Thomas Jarman were heavily involved in the design and technical delivery of various projects for Monkton Combe School across the different sites.
The projects included the extension and refurbishment of the Reynella Boarding House, the design and positioning of the new all-weather hockey pitch at Monkton Combe Prep School and a client advisor role for the new maths and science block.
William also co-designed the new music centre with Nick Shipp. This involved extending, integrating and unifying existing school buildings, creating a new entrance and circulation in the space between them. Cohesive exterior design and simple landscaping integrates the new music centre with the overall school campus.
Acoustic performance was a priority, especially in the new rehearsal room, which is large enough to host a full orchestra. Thomas worked closely with specialist subcontractors to design and install beautiful, complex and bespoke acoustic panelling.
The result is a great example of a school building project that included everything from masterplanning to finely tuned specification and cost engineering, led by a detailed understanding of how specialist buildings will be used by students, staff and visitors.
Along with Nick Shipp, William and Thomas were involved in the long-term development planning of the school’s facilities through their Estates Review Group. A masterplan was submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council and was approved as a strategy document and the in-principle plan for the school over the next 20 years. This document was used as a reference document for other schools in the same local authority wishing to create development strategies and plans.
This model could also be applied to many other schools. It helps to prioritise facilities and building developments and plan to ensure the necessary funding and other resources are in place.
We would love to hear from you if you are considering a new education building or the retrofit, remodelling and extension of existing buildings at your school or college. Enquire.
