Abingdon Preparatory School
WWA undertook a comprehensive review of Abingdon Preparatory School’s facilities to assess the suitability of its existing teaching and support accommodation. Decades of piecemeal development had led to a lack of coherence in the spatial arrangement of the school, creating operational and navigational challenges. The school, housed within a Grade II listed building, had been extended and remodelled in an ad-hoc manner creating accessibility issues and very uneven space utilisation. Our study aimed to develop a strategy to address these issues and ensure the school had the necessary facilities to support its long-term vision and compete effectively in the marketplace.
Rather than increasing pupil numbers, the focus of our masterplan was to rationalise and modernise the school’s facilities to focus on the quality of pupil and staff experience. Through our analysis, we were able to pinpoint a lack of existing space to properly deliver key areas of the curriculum, particularly in music, Design Technology (DT), and Information Technology (IT). The masterplan proposed a two-phase campus upgrade to address challenges in order of priority. Phase 1 involved internal reorganisation, creating a more efficient layout with a large library at the heart of the school as a shared resource for pupils of all ages. Phase 2 introduced a new extension housing modernised music, DT, and IT facilities along with a large basement. Space utilisation auditing enabled the rationalisation of existing classrooms and their timetabling, minimising the amount of additional floor area required.
WWA was subsequently engaged to deliver these improvements, with our town planning and conservation team working diligently to secure planning and listed building consent for significant alteration and extension works. Given the sensitivities of the heritage asset and its semi-rural setting, the design was carefully developed to be functional and sympathetic to its surroundings.
The new extension to Abingdon Preparatory School has been designed to overcome complex internal and external site levels while ensuring level access throughout. New internal ramps and lifts provide wheelchair access to the new and existing first-floor facilities, previously inaccessible to those unable to use the stairs. Externally, the construction of the northern extension, along with the removal of temporary classrooms, creates a new enclosed courtyard that enhances the teaching environment. The courtyard has been thoughtfully designed to navigate the site’s level changes while incorporating a large planting area that complements the rural setting.
Architecturally, the chamfered massing and projecting portrait windows to the north respond to the site’s significant ground-level change while framing views over the landscape. Sustainable design principles have been embedded into the scheme, utilising passive design measures to minimise environmental impact. Highly insulated and airtight constructions reduce heat loss, while passive solar design offsets heating requirements. Full-height vertical windows optimise natural daylight, minimising the need for artificial lighting and enhancing the learning environment.
This project was initiated as a result of our longstanding relationship with Abingdon Prep School and the provision of masterplanning services from an early stage, a strategy that has also enabled the delivery of a new key science facility at Lord Wandsworth College, and substantial new facilities for EF Language School.
