Brighton College
BRIGHTON COLLEGE
OMA
ARCHITECTS
Oma
PHOTOGRAPHS
Killian O. Sullivan, Laurian Ghinitoiu, Liz Finlayson/Vervate
CATEGORY
High School
AREA
7425 m²
YEAR
2020
LANDSCAPE
Bradley-Hole Schoenaich Landscape, Bradley-Hole Schoenaich
MANUFACTURERS
Hunter Douglas Architectural (Europe), Forbo Flooring Systems, Taylor Maxwell, Coba Flooring, Conder Allslade, Creagh Concrete, Designworks Tiles, Elefant Gratings, Fieldform, GE Door, Galldris, Hunter Douglas, Linit, Pura Facades, Schuco, Timco Wood, Togoma
ACOUSTICS
Ramboll
SUSTAINABILITY
Eight Associates
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Fluid Engineering
CONTRACTOR
McLaren
COMPETITION TEAM
Ellen van Loon, Rem Koolhaas, Carol Patterson, Gabriela Bandeira, Jan Barta, Marlies Boterman, Matthew Davis, Emile Estourgie, Alain Fouraux, Mindaugas Glodenis, Airat Khusnutdinov, Can Liu , Hans Larsson, Nikki Mulder, Edward Nicholson, Betty Ng, Francesca Pagliaro, , Tom Shadbolt, Liheng Zhang, Hongchuan Zhao, Ellen van Loon, Carol Patterson Kees van Casteren, Alain Fouraux, Daniel Gonzales, Leonardos Katsaros, Hans Larsson, Ellen van Loon, Francesco Moncada, Martin Murrenhoff, Betty Ng, Vitor Oliveira, Pawel Panfiluk, Jad Semaan, Timur Shabaev, Jonathan Telkamp
SERVICES ENGINEERING
Skelly & Couch, Skelley and Couch
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Carol Patterson, Marina Cogliani, Michalis Hadjistyllis, Mario Rodriguez
SCHEMATIC DESIGN
Carol Patterson, Marina Cogliani, Cristina Marin de Juan, Dinka Beglerbegovic
PARTNER IN CHARGE
Ellen van Loon
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Carol Patterson
CONTRUCTION
Carol Patterson, Isabel da Silva, Marina Cogliani, Tom Pailing, Magdalena Stanescu
EMPLOYERS REPRESENTATIVE
Gardiner & Theobald, Gardiner & Theobald
FIRE ENGINEERING
The Fire Surgery
LOCATION
Brighton, United Kingdom
The School of Science and Sports at Brighton College defies the conventional character of educational buildings – one of endless empty hallways and imposed silence – and instead combines the two departments to create a vibrant building with lively spaces where activities are not necessarily dictated by a school timetable.
Observing that processes of learning take place outside as much as inside of the classroom, the design articulates a new idea of educational space bolstering interaction and exchange.
Why isolate the department of Science from the department of Sports? Instead, the two are merged into one linear volume, situated at the edge of the playing field.
Primary sporting spaces are on level with the field, and the sports hall opens directly onto it.
The Science department, which include classrooms, laboratories and a green house, spans over the sporting spaces like a skeletal bridge.
The façades are inspired in part by the regular rhythm of the terraced housing opposite the new building. The rooftop provides a sweeping view of the North Sea.
Stimulating social communications between the students was central in the concept: generous and open break-out space outside of the classrooms create room for informal interaction and private studying.
Level shifts, grand staircases and glass visually connect the activities taking place in both departments and trigger unexpected exchanges between different disciplines.
Individual components of the building are exposed to each other: an indoor running track on the ground floor is visible from upper levels, classrooms have floor to ceiling windows, even fume hoods in the chemistry classrooms are made transparent – enabling people walking down the hallway to witness ongoing experiments.
OMA was awarded the project after a competition organized in 2013, when Brighton College needed to expand the Science School in terms of number of labs, and wanted a state-of-the-art sporting facility to foster talent and physical wellbeing.
In the original competition brief the Sports Center and Science Department were presented as two separate projects.
After a revised brief in 2013, and a second competition phase in 2014, planning approval was acquired in 2015 and construction started in 2017. The project was realized with a total construction budget of £36,700,000.
Established in 1845, Brighton College is a private, co-ed boarding and day school in Brighton, England, and over the years has cemented its reputation as one of Britain's leading schools. The campus is comprised of two areas: a historical quadrangle, composed of Grade II listed buildings designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and Sir Thomas Jackson in the 19th century; and the playing field lined with buildings from the 1970s and 1980s, the site of the new building.
