Beard starts new teaching block for Stowe School

Stowe’s builder of choice in recent years has been Stepnell but for this £5.9m project it has turned to Beard.

The two-storey building will comprise of classrooms, studios and workshops, and will serve as its own educational resource. Instead of many of the internal finishes traditionally found in other buildings, the structure, joints, beams and bolted connections will be purposely left exposed. All services will be colour-coded and will remain uncovered, allowing students to observe the infrastructure of pipes through internal walls, right through to the plant room.

Architect Design Engine has conceived the project to minimise material use and be suitable for deconstruction should the area in the grounds of the public school ever need to be returned to woodland. With an emphasis on structural embodied carbon, the Beard team is working with B&K Hybrid Solutions on a timber frame construction consisting of glulam and cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Beard has already begun work on the foundations, completing the installation of helical piles ahead of the steel framing and ground floor concrete slab. The project is set to complete next autumn.

Stepnell has built many of the school’s more recent buildings over the past decade, including its music school, science block extension and two boarding houses.

Beard has experience of working in the grounds of English public schools as well, having built facilities for Eton, Marlborough, Radley and Abingdon.

Dean Averies, director of Beard’s Oxford office, said: “With our reputation in the education sector, Beard has had the privilege of being involved in a number of prestigious builds across the region. This innovative project is another fantastic example, and we’re incredibly proud to support Stowe School in delivering a state-of-the-art facility to truly bring these exciting subjects to life.

“Beard is well known for delivering ambitious buildings to a high standard of quality. This project is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate this and our commitment to prompt and faultless delivery. Not only is there nowhere to hide with many elements of the building remaining exposed, but the entire build and installation must be exemplary, to provide an educational tool and benchmark for students.”

The school’s headmaster, Anthony Wallersteiner, added: “Nestled in the grounds of historic Stowe and in the shadow of Silverstone and the UK’s engineering heartland, the cutting-edge DT&E centre will complement its surroundings, all while providing an extraordinary educational resource for our future architects, designers and engineers. We look forward to the project completing next autumn and working closely with Beard to share their insight and expertise throughout the build.”

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