Tate Harmer has completed a contextually sensitive education building at Cranleigh Preparatory School in Surrey

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Kilian O’Sullivan

Tate Harmer, in association with Design & Build contractor Blue Forest, has completed a striking new teaching and sports building for Cranleigh Preparatory School in Surrey. The two-storey scheme is designed to provide a healthy natural learning environment, merging inside and outside spaces, as well as improving circulation, flow and functionality across the school campus.

Replacing two existing buildings, the project is located on the edge of the sports field and includes three science labs, two dual-aspect art classrooms, and a home economics room. Internal corridors are eschewed in favour of an external circulation route. This ensures that all the teaching spaces open to the outside, increasing connectivity with the surrounding site. The project reflects the healthy ethos of the school, providing a sustainable and low-energy learning environment, with high levels of daylight and natural ventilation, says the architect.

Site plan, ground- and first-floor plans; sections

The plan comprises two offset timber-clad blocks covered by a ‘floating’ vaulted glulam roof. The latter is conceived as a series of interconnected structural trusses that facilitate large open spans. The south-facing roof overhang provides solar shading and protection from the rain, while the raised north ridge affords views of the nearby cricket pitch. An open deck at first-floor level doubles as a cricket pavilion, supporting sports activities on the adjacent field.

A centrally-located staircase connects the building to a new access route into the school. A further staircase on the north-west corner of the plan provides access to the existing external colonnade. The extensive use of timber on the project is intended to match the tones of the surrounding tree canopy.

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