Client: Bedales School
Architects: Walters & Cohen
Main contractors: R Durtnell & Sons
Structural engineers: Adams Kara Taylor
Joinery: Durtnell Joinery
Timber suppliers: Capricorn

• Douglas fir structure, on a concrete frame, supporting the external envelope
• Larch cladding
• Timber automatic windows
• Timber doors
• Timber laminate corridor floors
• Internal timber acoustic cladding

This teaching and administration building, the new heart of the school, was designed with the latest environmental management principles in mind.

The two blocks are south-facing, while classrooms face north to benefit from constant light and avoid excessive solar gain. Although a concrete frame was used for thermal mass and structural stability, extensive use was made of renewable materials: the external envelope is supported by a Douglas fir timber structure, which required only shallow perimeter foundations and the external surfaces are clad in larch, untreated and intended to fade.

Natural ventilation and lighting are provided by opening windows and roof lights, which create a ventilation stack across the three storeys.