Residential blocks to accommodate over 100 boarders, with ground floor common spaces and additional staff maisonettes.

Stowe School is one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Based at Stowe House, formerly the country seat of the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, it forms the highest concentration of Grade I-listed buildings in England, set within beautiful landscaped grounds.

Eckersley O’Callaghan provided structural engineering services for the new Boarding House. The scheme is split into two buildings, with 72 rooms accommodated in each. The four- and five-storey blocks contain en-suite study bedrooms, with staff dwellings on the upper levels.

The structure uses a concrete column and flat slab construction and non-loadbearing partition walls to provide an economic and flexible layout that can be adapted over time by moving the partitions within the structural frame. The dramatic cantilevering eaves of the roof were formed from timber supported by a lightweight steel frame.

The building is founded on poor soil so a piled foundation design was developed to control the building’s settlement. Bath stone, zinc and render were used for the facade to match the Main House and compliment the historic setting.

Location
Buckingham, UK

Client
Stowe School

Architect
Rick Mather Architects