BEDALES SCHOOL - NEW SOCIAL AREA FOR PUPILS
Following completion of the new sports facilities at the school (featured in this section), Bedales school were keen to utilise the subsequently redundant existing changing facilities block. The block was a single-storey red brick structure with a flat roof, and did little to complement the adjacent buildings or courtyard.
Axis architecture was commissioned to provide full architectural services for the design and construction of a new social space. The facility is intended for use both by pupils to meet socially during the week, and by boarders to socialise out of school hours in a secure environment. Further to this it will be used as an assembly point for visitors when events are held in the main courtyard and hall.
The design utilises the majority of the existing brick structure, whilst remodelling the openings to provide larger windows to light the interior, and to provide visual proportions more sympathetic to those of the neighbouring buildings. A tiled pitched roof and a glazed entrance with octagonal rooflight give the new facility a character appropriate to its context.
Internally, two distinct zones are formed. One is an open space for informal dining and socialising, whilst the other is a more intimate space for relaxing, with comfortable furniture and private seating booths to the side.
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