Amesbury School Visual Arts Building
A striking single-storey, timber-framed arts pavilion with 195m² of internal space, and an equivalent area of external decking for a co-educational independent prep school in Surrey.
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Client
Amesbury School
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Architect
TP Bennett
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Photography
Agnese Sanvito
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Size
195m²
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Completion
2016
The building sits in a 15-acre site centred around Sir Edwin Lutyens Grade-II listed school. The school’s estate has expanded over the years but has remained faithful to two building typologies: load-bearing masonry structures, with clay-tiled roofs, and timber-framed structures with boarded exteriors. The architect chose the latter typology for the visual arts pavilion — due to its flexibility, sustainability, and speed of construction — and the structural engineering solution was developed in response to this.
The superstructure is formed of a series of timber portalised grillage frames. The west elevation uses the timber grillage with a plywood layer to form a stress skin beam spanning over a 17.5m long glazed opening. The double height space is overlooked by a mezzanine level constructed from timber studs and joist and is accessible via a plywood timber stair which cantilevers dramatically around the walls of the kiln room.
The position of retained trees posed a challenge for the structural design. Rather than positioning the structure away from the trees, we designed concrete pad foundations that were arranged to have minimal impact on the root protection zone. The concrete pads reduced the groundwork and ensured the impact on the surrounding environment was minimal.
The building replaces a tired prefabricated classroom and provides a visually stimulating multifunctional space for the school’s expanded arts curriculum and its budding young artists.
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