In 2012, Walters & Cohen Architects won an invited competition to design a new General Teaching Building at St Paul’s School in Barnes, London, one of the best independent schools for boys in the country. The school wanted to replace 1960s CLASP buildings, which were nearing the end of their lifespan, with a new general teaching building fit for 21st century education. Their vision was for learning, discussion and interaction to happen everywhere - not just in the classrooms and library - but they were not sure what this could look like. Walters & Cohen worked with the school community to understand their ethos, and then expanded the brief to include breakout spaces, which are peppered around the school to encourage teamwork and collaboration.

At more than 9,000 m2, the building includes a library, dining hall, kitchen, administrative offices, a chapel, hall, and 56 classrooms. A generous triple-height space known as the Atrium is designed as a magnificent heart of the school: students stop by throughout the day for independent study and to meet friends. With views across the sports fields, it also makes a wonderful events space. Connecting the site well was important. The building’s L-shape design links into buildings on either side, creating a ring of circulation on all levels, and encloses the re-landscaped central courtyard known as Founder’s Court. The building provides an attractive impression of the school from the Thames path, and the location of the library was carefully chosen so that it looks across the river, making the most of this unique site and adding to the library’s calm and inspiring atmosphere. Walters & Cohen also breathed new life into the lacklustre back-of-house north access road, transforming it into a pedestrian-priority route that provides a safer and more cheerful circulation between buildings, while allowing vehicles to meander slowly between the planters.

The breakout spaces, along with the Atrium and Founder’s Court, have all been an instant hit with the students, and exceed the client’s vision for learning beyond the classroom.   Externally, the building is clad in pre-cast concrete with warm tones to complement the surrounding buildings’ materiality. A stepped and layered façade brings visual depth and a slender verticality to the otherwise long facades that can be viewed from a great distance. Internal-facing facades are clad in aluminium, which capture reflections of the new trees and planting within the central courtyard. The internal materials were selected to be robust, with timber panelling lining much of the circulation, and high-quality visual concrete is expressed throughout. The building is filled with light and fresh air, achieved with the use of large roof lights and voids connecting the building’s multiple levels. Large floor-to-ceiling windows provide generous views out on all sides.
The project was divided into two phases: phase 1, which includes the dining hall and library, completed in 2017, while phase 2 was completed in March this year, in time for the grand opening.

Our old building defined both what we wanted and did not want from the new. We sought to replicate its functionality, space efficiency and lack of grandeur, and to lose its low light, noise and energy efficiency. We wanted an inspiring and intimate building, not an intimidating one. We wanted light, transparency, sustainability and space efficiency. We wanted a building that was sociable and informal, that encouraged pupils to interact and to communicate as if in a university, while allowing staff to supervise them informally. We wanted to restore the old chapel, but to make the space around it more flexible. Finally, an atrium was the social hub of the school, the space where everyone came to meet at break times, but we wanted to recreate this as a lighter space that also encouraged use of tranquil outdoor areas.  In short, a building that reinforced and perpetuated the best elements of our culture. The building delivers on all of those wishes triumphantly. It is light and spacious, with break out places for pupils to chat and work informally. The chapel has multi-faith usage and its hall can be used for various purposes. The atrium is restored as the hub of the school, and spills out onto the court and sport areas. The building promotes quiet, calm, intimacy and purpose. Yet it has presence. It is energy efficient. It feels like a university for school pupils. The excitement among staff and pupils is palpable”, Mark Bailey, High Master at St Paul's School.
"This has been a fantastic project that we - the design team and the client - have poured our heart and soul into for the past seven years. It is always a pleasure to work with ambitious clients, and we have loved engaging with the High Master, the project team and the pupils to deliver a building that represents their ethos", Michal Cohen, Director and Co-Founder at Walters & Cohen Architects.

Project Sheets
Client: St Paul’s School
Appointment: December 2012
Completion: March 2020
Contractor: Osborne
Landscape: Bradley-Hole Schoenaich Landscape
M&E engineer: Max Fordham LLP
Structural & civil: AKT II
Façade consultant: Eckersley O'Callaghan