Design and construction of a sustainable state-of-the-art music centre building providing excellent performance, rehearsal and teaching spaces including:

• A 500-seat concert hall with flexible seating and staging
• 7 Teaching and rehearsal rooms
• 15 practice rooms
• Percussion and string bases
• Multiple IT suites
• Combined entrance and foyer, music staff office space, outdoor quad area

The new facility is composed of three elements: a hall, a teaching wing and a courtyard.

Hall

The design of the hall ensures that the space is large and tall enough for the volume of music generated by large orchestral groups and suitable for all drama and music uses. The new foyer also forms a new main entrance to the school, easing space pressures on the historic Hoist Hall within the main school and offers level access at ground floor to the main auditorium

Teaching Wing

Teaching and administration spaces occupy the north east wing of the “L” shaped building on 3 floors and are accessed from a single corridor that connects the two principal staircases at the corners of the building, with a lift at the corridor’s mid-point. The glazed staircase is placed at the end of the corridors and provides view out and daylight in to the circulation spaces.

Ground floor accommodation is set back from the existing 6th form facility to create an underpass through to the new quad. A dedicated Preparatory School music reception and teaching space allow convenient access from the playground to the shared music facilities. A further large classroom adjacent to the main hall can be used for rehearsal, performance and community use including music therapy or extended hospitality space during large performances.

A central lift provides vertical circulation for inclusive access and movement of large instruments between floors and the main performance hall.

Courtyard

The hall and teaching facilities adopt an L-shape, which together with the existing building configuration forms a new courtyard, with the multi-purpose hall at the heart of the new facilities.