The Old School House Refurbishment

The Old School House is Lancaster Royal Grammar School’s oldest serving building and plays an important role for the school both in terms of its iconic physical presence and central location on the school site.

The project delivered a full building fabric and services refurbishment including high level roof replacement works and repointing. These works reduce future maintenance and extend the life of the Grade II listed Old School Building which was built in 1851.

On appointment, Wilson Mason undertook a detailed condition review of the existing building fabric. Due to the building’s listed status, the team has worked in close co-operation with the Victorian Society to provide a solution in keeping with the building’s heritage and stature.

The project design transformed the Grade II listed building to create a new Sixth Form Centre and additional teaching spaces. The project reconfigured the Old School House from dated communal boarding dormitories with shower blocks, into state-of-the-art study rooms and seminar spaces.

The design comprises a range of work space settings ranging from informal to formal, to suit a variety of individual and group learning styles, as well as a top floor catering offer and new staff office and meeting spaces. Accessibility and safety were key considerations to be improved within the building, with a lift, stairs, fire escapes and additional toilet facilities incorporated into the design. Corroded steel window frames have been replaced throughout the sixth form centre and all existing single glazed windows were exchanged with double glazed units to help reduce heat loss.

The project was designed to comply with the Education Funding Authority ‘Facilities Output Specification’.