coombes : everitt Your Sector Cheltenham College Boarding House
Cheltenham College Boarding House
Sector
Independent Schools
Client
Cheltenham College
Location
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Project Value:
£3m
Cheltenham College faced the challenge of creating high-quality boarding accommodation for 75 pupils and House Parent accommodation on a historically sensitive site within Cheltenham’s conservation area.
The project involved integrating two grade II listed Regency-style pavilion buildings while expanding capacity and providing modern amenities. This was achieved through careful planning and collaboration with the local authority. The final design is a building that harmoniously blends with the historic surroundings and the new facilities offer high quality, comfortable living and study spaces which strike the right balance between privacy and a sense of community.
The Brief:
High-quality boarding accommodation for 75 pupils and separate family accommodation for House Master/Mistress/Parents on a highly sensitive site located in the heart of Cheltenham’s conservation area fronting College Lawn.
Overall longer term sustainability/energy efficiency was also an important consideration.
Key Challenges:
The site was occupied by two grade ll listed Regency-style mid 19th Century pavilion buildings which historically formed a series of private residences fronting College Lawn.
One of the key challenges was how to combine these into one boarding house while providing high-quality accommodation and expanding the overall capacity in such a way as to ensure it supported and enhanced the historic setting.
An additional consideration was how to incorporate high quality, independent House Parent accommodation within the constraints of the site.
Further challenges existed in navigating the regulatory hurdles of such a sensitive setting while ensuring compliance with the independent school standards and the national minimum standards for boarding schools to ensure the welfare and well-being needs of students were being met.
Our Responsibilities:
Specialist Advice
Our Solution:
Early consultation with the planning and conservation department was essential to achieving planning consent. It led to a contemporary approach that still manages to reflect the traditional values of Cheltenham College and the local Regency vernacular architecture.
The contemporary approach adopted saw the demolition of mid-20th Century additions to the rear of the pavilions and the creation of two new residential wings projecting into a similar location. The resulting design creates a courtyard at its centre with communal and amenity facilities around the perimeter.
Careful consideration was given to the external appearance of the building using a pallet of materials, proportions, and rhythms that reflect the classical simplicity of the new building design alongside the grade II listed pavilions.
Fostering a sense of community within the boarding house was crucial to supporting the well-being and welfare of boarders. Cheltenham College opted for single-study bedrooms with ensuite facilities for upper school boarders and twin and four-bed dormitories for the lower school. The improved facilities achieve a high level of quality and regulatory compliance, providing modern and comfortable living and study spaces, including safe and easily maintained rooms and enhanced amenities such as kitchen, dining, study, and common areas.
Good quality family accommodation for House Parents is crucial to retaining good quality staff and supporting their needs. The challenge was to offer separate and independent access and external amenity/garden space for house parents and their families while enabling a connection to the adjacent boarding house. The four-bed house and external garden provision are creatively integrated into the building design by siting the accommodation in one of the new wings adjacent to the boarding house communal facilities. This association enables easy oversight of boarders during term time, while the vast communal facilities revert to the use of the Parental House outside of term time, effectively becoming part of the Parental House during the summer holiday periods.
In considering the projects’ sustainability requirements, constraints existed on the grade II listed elements of the project. This focused efforts on the new build elements to pursue a higher standard of environmental performance than might otherwise have been implemented. Adopting a fabric-first approach saw the enhancement of the thermal envelope and higher levels of airtightness within the building than typically expected. With the further addition of Photo Voltaic (Solar) Panels to the new roofing areas, the building achieves significantly lower operational carbon emissions alongside significantly lower running and maintenance costs, all of which support a quicker return on investment for Cheltenham College.
Overall, the design sensitively responds to the surrounding historic setting and is a significant building sensitively integrated within the context of Cheltenham College and the wider Cheltenham Conservation area.
