Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery

KINGSWOOD SCHOOL PREP SCHOOL, PRE-PREP AND NURSERY

Stonewood Design

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

AREA
2150 m²

YEAR
2019

PHOTOGRAPHS
Craig Auckland

LEAD ARCHITECT
Adam Chambers

SERVICES ENGINEER
burohappold

MANUFACTURERS
Troldtekt, Hess Lighting, Marley Eternit, Traditional Brick And Stone, Velfac, Blake Joinery & Htq

ARCHITECT
Joe Silver, Stephen Oldham

CATAGORY
High School

CLIENT
Mark Brearey

STRUCTURAL AND CIVIL ENGINEER
Burohappold

LOCATION
Bath,United Kingdom

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

Text description provided by architect.

A New Prep School Building re-accommodates facilities which include classrooms for Years 5 and 6, Music, Art, “STEAM” facilities, and a School Hall.

The School also wished to address the demand for Pre-Prep and Nursery by constructing a new building, alongside new reception classes which will smooth the process of starting Preparatory School.

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

The site is bound by mature trees which enclose a rolling topography of grassed areas, stepped woodland dells, and play areas. Views outward to the south and west across the valley are a feature.

The site, therefore, required a particular response, appropriate to its setting. The appearance of the New Prep School Building and Nursery was important in terms of how the school relates to the World Heritage City, and in terms of how the buildings are enjoyed and loved by the children who use them.

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

The built volumes take the form of a collection of pitched and hipped roofs. This “normalises” the buildings to something which is familiar and not institutional. The buildings are constructed from large cross-laminated timber panels.

This is a quick, clean, quiet, and panellised form of construction, appropriate to a learning environment. This provides an opportunity to use a material with low embodied energy.

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

Exposing the timber internally creates a sense of calm, which, when combined with the excellent quality of daylight and sunlight, helps lower stress levels and lift the spirits for the children and the teachers.

The external materials comprise of Western Red Cedar shingles to roofs and walls, (a woodland response, with a scale that children can relate to), and a tactile brick which has the tones of Bath stone, (a “crafted” material which relates to materials found in the wider school site).

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

New Prep School Building The plan layout wraps the New Prep School Building around a collection of pine trees that sit within a timber platform structure. This serves to include the tree platform into the accommodation, offering it as an additional outdoor classroom.

The layout also allows the New Prep School Building to embrace and encompass the already existing “forest school” areas to the east, such as the camp-fire area, the tunnels, and the zip wire.

Two distinct volumes are connected by the central entrance space, which may also be used as display or performance space.

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

The southernmost volume contains the Year 5 and 6 Classrooms and “STEAM” facilities. The northernmost volume contains the Hall and Music facilities. New Pre-Prep and Nursery Building The building is conceived as a collection of timber pavilions within a woodland setting.

The plan form creates separate defined rooms (pavilions) for each age stream.

Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
© Craig Auckland

The plan layout provides a progression by age streams northwards through the Nursery along with an active circulation space which will provide group workspaces and storage.

Each of the age streams is separated by support spaces which generate a covered external play space. These relate directly to each of the rooms.


Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery
Kingswood School Prep School, Pre-prep And Nursery