Haberdashers’ Monmouth School Masterplan

Levitt Bernstein’s comprehensive retrofit and decarbonisation strategy for Haberdashers’ Monmouth School in Wales transforms six buildings across three town sites, unlocking the potential of existing assets to support a newly co-educational model and a clear path to Net Zero Carbon.

Photos
Tom Biddle

Levitt Bernstein has completed a wide-ranging masterplan and retrofit programme for Haberdashers’ Monmouth School in Monmouth, Wales, reconfiguring and upgrading six buildings across the school’s estate. Delivered on three separate town sites and phased around a live educational environment, the project combines deep refurbishment, selective new build and a detailed decarbonisation strategy to create contemporary learning spaces while significantly improving environmental performance.

The work marks a pivotal moment for the school, enabling a transition to a fully co-educational model across all age groups. Rather than expanding the estate through wholesale replacement, the design team focused on adapting and extending existing structures. Sensitive remodelling, new linking elements and carefully inserted extensions rationalise circulation and draw together buildings that had evolved incrementally over decades.

Site plan.

Across the estate, upgrades to insulation and airtightness have been paired with the integration of photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps, reducing reliance on gas and establishing a clear route map towards Net Zero Carbon. Blue and green roofs meanwhile, form part of a broader landscape strategy, supporting biodiversity and sustainable drainage while softening the relationship between architecture and its setting.

At the sixth form centre, a 1960s building has undergone deep retrofit, wrapped in a highly insulated envelope and reclad to create a renewed civic presence. A new entrance and linking structure stitch together previously fragmented spaces, while internal reconfiguration replaces cellular layouts with open social and study areas, a cafeteria and modern teaching rooms. A zinc-clad insertion signals arrival and frames new connections to biodiverse outdoor spaces. Above, photovoltaic panels and a blue roof contribute to the building’s enhanced environmental performance.

Elsewhere, a former squash court has been transformed into a dedicated dance studio. The existing structure has been retained and overclad with a highly insulated skin, its electrified services powered by rooftop PV panels. The result is a light-filled, flexible performance space whose operational energy demand is offset by on-site generation, exceeding a net zero balance.

The dining hall expansion retains approximately 80 per cent of the original fabric, extending and recladding the building to unify old and new. Enhanced insulation, passive ventilation to the main hall and mechanical ventilation to the kitchen improve comfort and efficiency, while air source heat pumps replace gas boilers, with a combination of photovoltaic panels and a sedum roof advancing ecological and energy ambitions.

Heritage assets on the site have been treated with equal care as well. The Grade II listed School House, formerly used for boarding, has been adapted into a teaching building, with contemporary classrooms and social spaces inserted around a restored four-storey staircase. At the preparatory school, another listed landmark has been converted to provide generous class bases and associated learning spaces, balancing conservation with upgraded performance.

Completing the programme, the Eddie Butler Fitness Centre reworks a former prep school building to create strength and conditioning spaces, a rowing studio and support facilities, serving pupils and visiting teams alike.

“As our work at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School demonstrates, refurbishment and adaptation must be the first consideration when seeking sustainable, transformational change,” said Victoria Turner, director at Levitt Bernstein. “Innovative retrofit can extend a building’s lifetime, achieve high environmental performance and create inspiring spaces for learning.”

Tessa Norgrove, foundation bursar at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School, meanwhile added: “Haberdashers’ Monmouth School has worked with Levitt Bernstein for a decade. In that time, they have managed several projects for us including a performing arts centre in 2018, which included a flexible dance studio. More recently they have worked with us to reorganisation and renovation of our entire school site. Levitt Bernstein were successful in delivering multiple projects across the site, with particular logistical complexity arising with our dining hall and sixth form facilities as a result of phasing and delivering the projects within a live school site.”