Clifton College School House and Watson's House

Pastoral needs include:

bringing the building up to date with the expectations of young people in the 21st century - in buildings that were designed as model boarding houses in mid 19th.

Development needs include:

a doubling of density, in a listed building, within a group of listed buildings, in a designated historic landscape, within a conservation area.

Commercial needs include:

good value for money over the long term, 'as inexpensive as is compatible with true economy' [Architects brief 1861]
integrating with current and future maintenance programmes.

Elements :

reducing ground levels around the base of the building to make the lower ground floor usable.
removing accretions to the east (boys) courtyard to bring it back to its original U shaped form. Inserting a T shaped building into the remaining form, linking School House with Big School adjacent.
creating a new accommodation building next to Guthrie Road, originally planned as an assertive 'bookmark' building, now settled behind the original wall, allowing new views of the historic building.

Aims :

Accessible, pastorally functional, overheard and overlooked community areas with personal private space.
Legible layout, so that it is always clear where you are within the building.
Junction between old an new clearly visible.
Construction reversible.
Minimal destruction of the original fabric.

What you can do :

To make a donation to the School House project contact the Clifton College Foundation.
Drawings: Click here for drawings which you can view and download