Strategic Needs

In formulating the brief for this Masterplan, St Paul's School has considered not only the drawbacks of the current buildings and the lost opportunities on the site, but also the aspects of their current design and functionality that work well and have a positive bearing on the operation of the School and the experience of its users.

The Site
The Barnes site has many qualities; a long river frontage, space for playing fields and good access to public transport. However, the buildings could relate better to the river. The separation of pedestrians and vehicles could be improved, and much more can be done to enhance the landscaping and ecology of the site.

The Buildings
The campus is contained within a compact, intimate space, which staff and pupils value highly. The newer buildings, such as the Music School, the Rackets Court, the Milton Building and the Colet Court Centenary Building are all very good facilities. The CLASP buildings have undergone some improvements over their life, for example through the creation of the Atrium in the main St Paul's building by enclosing what was an internal courtyard, and the refurbishment of the Walker Library. These areas are highly valued and frequented. However, the main teaching buildings at both schools are difficult to adapt any further, many parts overheat in summer, the acoustic isolation is inadequate and room sizes are insufficient for today's class sizes.

The room size limitations are not surprising, since the original design criteria were based on class sizes of 15 boys at Colet Court and 16 at St Paul's. Today's class sizes are up to 21 at both Colet Court and St Paul's. Applying the DfES recommendations for these numbers will require Colet Court classrooms to increase in area from 39 m² to 55 m². At St Paul's, classrooms need to increase from 44 m² to 55 m² and laboratories from 80 m² to 100 m². Corridors and staircases need to increase in width commensurately, to improve ease of movement at peak times, and disabled access needs to be upgraded. Entry and reception spaces also require improvement, and the School needs a building in which the whole of St Paul's can assemble.

To these basic strategic criteria concerning space are added the requirements of flexibility, integration of ICT and most importantly, the ability to remain operational whilst the rebuilding is carried out.

Applying for Planning Consent
To be able to rebuild, we need to obtain planning consent. The planning application that we have recently submitted is based upon the Masterplan displayed here. It is by and large an outline application, aimed at obtaining consent for the overall scale and general location of development. Individual buildings will be subject to further detailed applications once their design has been developed. The proposed staff housing lies adjacent to and partly within the Castelnau Conservation Area. We have therefore, at the request of the local planning authority, developed the architectural plans of these particular buildings to a greater extent, to provide the necessary level of detail.