Feilden Fowles - Fitzjames, Hazlegrove School

Feilden Fowles

• 2014

New teaching block for preparatory school with break out space and informal learning areas.

Hazlegrove School set out a clear ambition to create a new academic hub for the school that inspires pupils to explore the excitement of learning. The new 650m2 facility, responds to this brief in delivering a dynamic range of spaces; classrooms, breakout and covered external areas and a large central learning resource space offering a flexible and innovative blend of teaching spaces and environments for independent learning.

Drawing from a combination of monastic typologies, classical formalism and contemporary educational pedagogy, the building confidently defines a new civic heart to the school’s Grade II listed campus, offering bright and uplifting spaces that celebrate and dignify the act of learning and of collective endeavour.

The design is informed by the research work of educational theorist Bart McGettrick. The result is classrooms and break out spaces designed around a large central resource space, in which students can work in small groups and use resources outside the classroom context whilst being passively supervised. The flexible spatial configuration, degree of visual transparency and acoustic control combine to ensure a successful balance between the more traditional classroom environments and the open resource space.