Central Foundation Boys' School
- Location
- London, UK
- Client
- Central Foundation Boys School and Gardiner & Theobald
- Expertise
- Acoustics
- Building Services Engineering
- Civil & Structural Engineering
- Landscape Architecture
- Sustainability
- Completion
- 2023
- Size
- 2,140 sq m
- Cost
- £38M
Central Foundation Boys' School, one of the UK's top-performing non-selective schools, has undergone a major transformation, revitalising its inner-city London campus. The project delivered state-of-the-art facilities for students from Year 7 to Sixth Form, enhancing the learning spaces and recreational areas.
The project delivered state-of-the-art facilities for students from Year 7 to Sixth Form, enhancing the learning spaces and recreational areas. Over 150 years, the school’s campus evolved by combining seven buildings, including a former Tabernacle Chapel and a Grade II-listed county court. Despite its historic charm, many of these spaces had become outdated, with two buildings ranked among the worst in the UK by the Department for Education.
The redevelopment involved a 13,000 sq m upgrade, focused around a new landscaped courtyard. Key features include modern science laboratories, refurbished classrooms, and a stunning subterranean sports hall. This sports hall, built more than seven metres below ground between existing masonry buildings, meets Sport England standards. The top-down construction method allowed work to continue above while excavation took place below, reducing costs and time.
The courtyard, situated above the sports hall, has been transformed into a vibrant playground, with sustainable drainage, green roofs, and mature trees, adding much-needed greenery to the urban environment.
The project also saw the careful restoration of the listed Tabernacle Chapel, which was converted into performance spaces for music and drama. Historic windows were refurbished to improve energy efficiency while preserving the building’s character. Designed to BREEAM Excellent standards, the entire redevelopment integrates modern sustainability features, ensuring energy efficiency and a reduced environmental footprint.
This redevelopment preserves the historic charm of the school while equipping it with cutting-edge facilities, securing its legacy as a leading educational institution for generations to come.
“Refurbishing and updating listed and historic buildings is always a challenge. If you add to that the construction of a part-subterranean sports hall in an occupied school courtyard, you can understand what an incredible engineering feat this project is. We are certain that it will help the school to achieve sporting excellence and provide students with the perfect place to meet their sporting goals for generations to come."
The Central Foundation Boys' School courtyard has been designed as a multifunctional space to encourage creative collaboration between the students. The elegant design responds to the listed buildings that enclose the space whilst also incorporating the sustainability vision including sustainable drainage systems, intensive green roofs, mature trees and added biodiversity values.
The school was designed to BREEAM Excellent standards with 107 sq m of solar photovoltaic panels providing 17,182 kWh per year. Historic chapel windows were carefully dismantled, refurbished off-site and reinstalled, providing an improved thermal performance while retaining important heritage. Air handling units with heat recovery were introduced to each block to optimise the energy efficiency of the HVAC system and to improve the poor air quality. Mechanical ventilation was provided to achieve the background ventilation rates required without circulating low-quality air from outside. The buildings can also be sealed to operate using only mechanical ventilation when air quality is at is poorest.