Sprunt appointed curriculum consultants on Harrow College redevelopment
15/02/2008
Sprunt's 20 years' experience and expertise in education space planning have won them the role of Curriculum Consultants and Space Analysts in the £120m redevelopment of Harrow College.
Working in partnership with MJP Architects, Sprunt drew on their extensive pedagogical knowledge in order to achieve the College’s aspiration to create an exemplar further education college.
The new building will be an amalgamation of the two current sites at Harrow on the Hill and Harrow Weald and the College is taking this opportunity to review its curriculum and administrative requirements. This meant that a major part of Sprunt’s remit was to create an appropriate accommodation schedule for the new 10 storey building.
By undertaking a series of consultation strategy meetings with staff, Sprunt gathered information on what facilities and functions were required of the 32,000 sqm space available and this enabled them to build a picture of how the spaces would look and fit together in the new building.
As a result, there was a wide range of space sizes in the schedule, but a rationalisation of these reduced the number of bespoke areas. Underpinning the rationalised area schedule is the “tartan grid” concept, which provides the building blocks for the design of the building.
Sprunt’s role has also included the detailed layout of the more specialist curriculum spaces in the building such as the science suite, the art and design facilities and the general workroom area accommodating staff in an open plan office arrangement.
Steve McGivney, who heads up the project for Sprunt, commented: “We have found Harrow College to be a very exciting project and one which has really tested our skills. By working closely with MJP and through many consultation meetings with staff and students, we were able to analyse the curriculum closely and plan accordingly. We believe that we have come up with an inspiring solution that provides the perfect backdrop for highly effective teaching.”
Harrow College Principal, Dr Barbara Field, said: “’One Harrow’ will create a 21st Century space for learning. Our existing buildings will become outdated in just a few years and will not be flexible enough to accommodate future learning and teaching needs. Also, a new campus will be able to incorporate access for people with disabilities into the overall design from the start. We want to create a wonderful new building to attract, inspire and meet the needs of all our future students.”