2.11.2023

Central Foundation Boys School

Central Foundation Boys' School has been in its central London location next to Old Street roundabout for over 150 years.

–       The completed project provides 13,000 m2 of exceptional educational spaces for students in years 7-11 and sixth form.
–       The school worked with architects Hawkins\Brown for over a decade to unlock significant financial and logistical challenges.

Central Foundation Boys’ School, one of the top performing non-selective comprehensive schools in the country, has completed a transformation of its inner-city London campus which provides exceptional learning facilities for students between years 7-11 and sixth form.

Over the last 150 years, seven buildings (including a Tabernacle Chapel and Grade II-listed former County Court) had been brought together into one school campus around a central courtyard. The result was an ad hoc collection of spaces that were not fit for purpose, with two buildings being identified as amongst the ‘worst educational buildings in the UK’ by the Department for Education (DfE).

Through a decade-long partnership, architects Hawkins\Brown supported the school in unlocking significant financial and logistical challenges to provide 13,000m2 of much-needed upgrades to this unique site.

The campus redevelopment sought to rationalise and consolidate the school’s accommodation to allow more efficient use of the buildings. The project was delivered through a complex funding mix including:

–       Funding from the Central Foundation Schools of London;

–       The local education authority;

–       The Department for Education (as part of the Priority School Building Programme);

–       Proceeds from the sale of a development site.

New facilities include new science laboratories and a subterranean sports hall buried in the central courtyard; the Tabernacle Chapel and Sunday School Annex were creatively transformed for drama, art, and music. Existing buildings were refurbished where possible, and new-build infills were only considered where it was not possible to provide specialist learning spaces in existing structures.

The school remained open and operational throughout the building works. As part of the partnership, students had opportunities to participate in activities such as work experience and career talks with Hawkins\Brown.

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Central Foundation Boys’ School is an all-boys comprehensive, with a mixed sixth form, which has been serving the local community for over 150 years. The school welcomes a diverse cohort of students, with nearly 50% of students being eligible for free school meals; 80% of students being from minority ethnic groups; 68 first languages are spoken by students. In 2022, the school was recognised as a top performing school in the borough overall; socio-economically, the school has one of the most deprived cohorts of any school in England.

Famous alumni include Jacob Bronowski, Martin Kemp, Ronnie Scott, Reggie Yates, Trevor Nelson, and Richard Seifert.

Jamie Brownhill, Headteacher said:

“To say the school is delighted with our completed campus is an understatement. Over ten years ago we set out a brief for the re-development of the school, that some would say read more like a dreamer’s wish list, than a practical and achievable plan. However, here we are with a beautiful, functional, and robust campus that will support and inspire students for decades to come. Our brilliant design team, led by Hawkins\Brown, have made the impossible, possible.”

Negar Mihanyar, Partner, Hawkins\Brown, said:

“As architects, projects don’t get more rewarding than this.

I’ve personally had the pleasure of working with the school for over a decade to help them deliver their ambitious vision – one which ensures the young people at CFBS have access to inspiring learning environments and the best facilities. The school have been strong advocates of design from the start and through close collaboration and creative problem solving we have been able to overcome multiple challenges, be it the constrained inner-city site or complex funding structure, to create something truly unique.

We have loved being part of this incredible journey with the school and are proud that this very special community asset has been safeguarded for future generations.”

Architect’s view

Central Foundation Boys’ School, founded in 1866, is an important part of the local community. Its campus includes a mixture of designated heritage assets (Grade II listed), and buildings within the Bunhill Fields Finsbury Square conservation area. Our brief was to rationalise and consolidate the school’s accommodation to allow more efficient use of the buildings and site.

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The first phase of work provided a new, purpose-built science building equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that also serves as a welcoming front door to the school. The building is located at a key node; it played a vital role in unlocking site-wide circulation issues while providing step-free access to the majority of the site.

The second phase of work included a new three-court, multi-use sports hall with changing facilities. The tight nature of the site meant that the sports hall is sunken under the courtyard, with rooflights bringing in natural light. It has been designed to comply with Sport England guidance, providing the school with a flexible multi-purpose space that can be used for out-of-hours community use.

The courtyard was never designed to be a ‘traditional courtyard’ due to the evolution of the site. We did, however, take the opportunity to transform the space directly above the sports hall into a landscaped playground that provides much-needed amenity space for students.

The Tabernacle Chapel is one of the most distinctive in the school’s building stock. It has previously been poorly adapted for educational use, and the project offered a unique opportunity to transform it into a characterful Creative Arts Centre. All primary façades have been retained and repaired, while the north elevation facing the school’s internal courtyard has been replaced to allow daylight into the building and to showcase the range of activities within.

Negar Mihanyar, Partner, Hawkins\Brown

Engineer’s view

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.

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The new sports hall is a world class asset for the school that meets the standards of a Sport England facility. What makes it stand out is that the building lives partly underground. It is built between four existing masonry buildings and the base of the sports hall sits at more than seven metres below ground level with a water table at three metres below ground. A concrete liner wall, along with a cavity drained system has ensured robust waterproofing in a Grade 3 basement environment. To gain the maximum footprint, and to be economical, working closely with Hawkins\Brown we created detailed constraints drawing, with this we were able to address all temporary and permanent construction requirements before work started, limiting the need for complex temporary works, and controlling the potential settlements of the adjacent buildings.

A top-down construction method was adopted by the contractor, which allowed external works to continue while the sports hall was excavated below the roof slab, saving on time and cost. The result is an original and outstanding building which was designed and built on one of the most constrained sites where we have ever worked. 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.

Adjacent to the Sports Hall, we refurbished the Tabernacle Chapel, changing it from classrooms and a poorly lit basketball court into a music school, art classrooms and a multi-use drama/theatre studio. A detailed study of the existing roof timber trusses and floor structure was undertaken, and localised strengthening was developed to upgrade the structure, maximising the existing fabric and minimising new works. Keeping as much of the historic fabric in place was vital in creating an excellent and unique facility for creative arts.

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