Walters & Cohen Architects completes a major education project in Barnes

Buildings.

Photos
Dennis Gilbert, Walters & Cohen

Won in competition, Walters & Cohen Architects’ General Teaching Building (GTB) at St Paul’s School in Barnes, London, includes a library, dining hall, kitchen, administrative offices, a chapel, hall, and 56 classrooms. The brief was for learning, discussion and interaction to happen everywhere – not just in the classrooms and library. The architect worked with the school community to understand its ethos, and then expanded the brief to include breakout spaces, which are peppered around the school to encourage teamwork and collaboration.

Buildings.

Replacing a series of outdated 1960s CLASP buildings, the 9000-square-metre building is organised around a generous triple-height atrium with views across the sports fields. The L-shaped plan links into existing buildings on either side, creating a ring of circulation on all levels, and enclosing the re-landscaped central courtyard known as Founder’s Court. At the rear of the site, a new pedestrian-priority route provides safe and pleasant circulation between buildings, while allowing vehicles to meander slowly between the planters. Breakout spaces, along with the atrium and Founder’s Court, have been an hit with the students, and exceeded the client’s vision for learning beyond the classroom, says the architect.

Site plan; ground and second-floor plans; section through atrium

Externally, the building is clad in precast concrete with warm tones used to complement the existing buildings. A stepped and layered facade is intended to bring visual depth and a slender verticality to the otherwise long elevations that can be viewed from a great distance. Internal-facing facades are clad in aluminium, which capture reflections of the new trees and planting within the central courtyard.

Buildings.

The internal materials were chosen for their robustness, with timber panels lining much of the circulation space, and high-quality concrete used throughout. Good levels of daylight and natural ventilation are provided by large rooflights and voids connecting the building’s multiple levels. Generous floor-to-ceiling windows provide excellent views out on all sides.

Where possible, the new building is naturally ventilated, using the high thermal mass of the in-situ concrete frame to regulate the internal temperature throughout the day and further reduce the amount of additional heating and cooling required. The project also includes a new energy centre that powers the entire campus.

Energy-efficient, low surface-temperature radiators are used to heat the GTB. All the boilers in the energy centre are able to run at reduced temperature, so that as the infrastructure is rolled out within subsequent and existing buildings, energy consumption for the whole site can be further reduced. Roof-mounted photovoltaics provide the school with an ongoing source of renewable energy. The PV panels are raised above the roof surface, allowing wildflowers to grow around and beneath them, thereby increasing biodiversity.

Additional Images

Credits

Architect
Walters & Cohen Architects
Structural engineer
AKT II
Services engineer
Max Fordham
Quantity surveyor
Arcadis