Downland Prize 2010

Joint Winner, Education
sponsored by The Rooflight Company
James Robson and Bryn Warlow, Hazle McCormack Young,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent 01892 515311

The Blencowe Centre, Brambletye School, East Grinstead, West Sussex

Downland Prize jury comments
‘This striking contemporary building is the first that you see when coming down the school drive. It opens up and connects this area of the school.

‘The circular staircase building that connects the two classroom blocks is impressive and well-proportioned. They sit very well alongside the older stone building. The pitch of the roof reflects that of the older building and the selection of materials is sympathetic to the original. The local bricks pick up many of the colours in the stone building and the use of a grey and green band slate also match well. The workmanship of BBS Construction is first class, externally and internally.

‘It would have been easy to do a pastiche of the older building, which would not have provided the same creative learning environment. The school received excellent value and the architects are to be congratulated.’

New centrepiece building allows school to plan for future
Brambletye School is set in dramatic parkland close to East Grinstead. The preparatory school needed to update its accommodation and asked the architects to review the whole campus, before arranging to add a block of seven new classrooms that would enable them to plan for future development.

The space chosen for these was totally overgrown with trees and shrubs. The L-shaped building is planned around a new South-facing courtyard, where pupils and teachers can sit and relax. The block forms a centrepiece for the school. The old and the new sit well together. The stone band course and window surrounds link the two visually, and the wood veneer rainscreen and the metal louvers on the South entrance add to the modern feel of the new building.

Inside the Blencowe Centre, named after Brambletye School’s founder, the many floor-to-ceiling windows provide lots of light. The passive circulation system helps to create well-ventilated classrooms that are healthy to be in.

The Blencowe Centre was finished in June 2009, on time and to budget. The architects commented: ‘We established a good working relationship with everyone – the school, consultants and contractor – which reflected the school’s own ‘family’ ethos.’