Independent school submits plans for new girls' boarding house

Shrewsbury School, which was named Independent School of the Year 2020, says a fifth girls’ house is needed to meet increasing demand.

A planning application submitted to Shropshire Council says the new block will have rooms for 57 boarders as well as study areas for day students, communal spaces and staff accommodation.

It is set to be built in the grounds of the boys’ house Ridgemount, near Hodgson Hall, the school’s newest academic building which opened in 2015.

Fees for boarding pupils range from £12,520 to £13,500 per term.

A design and access statement prepared by Adrian James Architects in support of the application says: “The proposal addresses a clear need for more girls’ accommodation at the school and an analysis of the size and type of boarding house that will meet that need.

“The proposal follows a thorough appraisal of all possible locations on the school campus where the new house might be located, and an assessment of those options led to the current site being selected.”

It says the new boarding house will complement the settings of the Ridgemount and St Oldham’s buildings, which are both grade II listed, and “create a bond” between them.

Shrewsbury School was founded in 1552 and moved to its current campus in 1882.

The statement says: “Over the last 450 years the school has established and maintained a world-class reputation but if it is to continue to thrive it must plan ahead to ensure it meets future needs.”

Four girls’ boarding houses have been created since the school became co-educational in 2008, with two new-builds and the conversion of two former boys’ houses.

The statement says demand for girls’ places has increased year-on-year and the current houses are all now at capacity.

It says: “This lack of capacity will soon require the school to impose a limit on its boarding girls intake unless action is taken.

“So to continue to increase the co-education provision Shrewsbury School requires additional boarding capacity.

“To maintain the size of the separate boarding communities this is best achieved by a separate boarding house, not an extension to an existing house.

“The house will also need to have the capacity to accommodate study areas for a small number of day girls so they are integrated into the boarding community.

“The new house will need to be of a similar size to the other houses, accommodating a similar number of girls distributed across the academic years, with similar accommodation for the support staff, and with similar facilities.

“This equivalence between houses is necessary to maintain a balanced choice across the school offer, and to maintain a balance in academic performance and extra-curricular performance between the houses.

“But it is also the case that the girls’ boarding house model has developed organically over the history of boarding provision at the school, and this size and form of house has evolved as the optimum across all the varying parameters: academic, sport, social and pastoral.”

The statement says the plans comply with council planning policies and respond to the sensitivities of the site.

It adds: “As well as meeting and exceeding every element of the brief and every planning and performance target, there are overarching ambitions for this project.

“The intention is to provide Shrewsbury School with a new building which sits comfortably within and enhances the school’s campus, is of a comparable architectural quality to the school’s finest buildings, is of lasting aesthetic appeal and will age gracefully, and will be enjoyed and remembered fondly by all the girls who spend their formative years there.

“These are less tangible targets which it is harder to assess, but hopefully the submitted drawings and visuals in this statement invoke a positive reaction in the viewer, and the intuitive sense that this is a building which can achieve those ambitions.”

The planning application will be decided by Shropshire Council.