Pate’s Grammar School

Pate’s Grammar School is one of the country’s most successful grammar schools and its high academic achievements are supported by an estate that boasts outstanding facilities. For Pate’s, Quattro Design Architects has been the architect of choice for over a decade, delivering projects that have ranged from small refurbishments through to multi-million pound new builds.

Working with a core group of governors, staff and students, a strategic plan was developed by Quattro, which has been used by the Academy, to inform development decisions and identify projects for funding opportunities over the past 10 years.

This project included remodelling the school to create 11 classrooms and constructing a new 1000 sqm building at the front of the school, for an expansion of 150 students.

The site concerned, is located in a prominent location near the main entrance to the School, making it a highly sensitive, busy and constrained site, this would need to directly inform the design, programme and risk analysis of the project, ensuring the safety of all and that the school remained operational at all times.

The phases have been designed and programmed so that the school remains operational at all times and the safety of all is ensured.

Spatial drama throughout provides an uplifting environment for all its users. This was achieved by an extremely tight budget, funded by the ESFA under the Conditions Improvement Fund, which demonstrates the skill and experience of the design team.

Traditionally procured, the new build cost (excluding external works) for the new build was £2,185.00/sqm and the refurbishment was £130.00/sqm. Quattro acted as Lead Consultant, Lead Designer, Interior Designer, Project Manager and Clerk of Works, supporting the school throughout the whole process.

This newly completed Sixth Form Centre at Pate’s is a celebration of learning; exciting and invigorating all who work within its walls.

Intelligent design and Quattro’s close working relationship with the school, has achieved an enormous amount for relatively little: a real exemplar of what good architecture can bring to school design. The project was opened by Professor Robert Winston in 2019.

Specific features of the project are as follows:

• Quattro’s services included complete project and contract management of the scheme, in addition to the interior design and effective oversight of the internal fit out and bespoke features requested by the school, such as the book spine staircase
• The phases were designed and programmed so that the School remained operational at all times and the safety of all ensured. Adjacent facilities include key teaching spaces, namely the sports hall and classrooms
• The building is located in a prominent location near the main entrance to the School, making it a highly sensitive, busy and constrained site, which directly informed the design, programme and risk analysis of the project
• Together with the School, Quattro approached the feasibility scheme balancing the short to medium term requirements with the long term objective, by creating a multi-phased plan ensuring pupils moved as few times as possible during the works
• Critical works were carried out during the school holiday periods to minimise disruption. Therefore, the building of the extension becomes a positive learning experience for the students
• Car parking and drop off are consistently the focus of many schemes with pupils being dropped off and collected by bus. This project is no different. A very busy existing route was safeguarded and construction traffic managed to avoid peak times.