A new performing arts centre, science labs and sixth form centre on a tight urban island site near Elephant & Castle, south London.

St Saviour’s & St Olave’s is a Church of England secondary school for girls with 800 pupils. We were appointed to create and deliver a masterplan for the redevelopment of the constrained campus.

The school’s site was constrained by a perimeter wall and the need to respect its neighbours. They needed more accommodation but wanted to maintain high quality external spaces, including landscaped courtyards and lush gardens. A new building supplants the demolished 1958 wing of sub-standard fabric, providing 2,100m2 over three floors with a family of rooms for individual and peer group learning, specialist facilities, a multi-purpose activity studio and a rooftop learning terrace.

Originally built facing the south the campus has had to evolve its orientation to the north as it has grown and the new building provides a new public street entrance, offering a reflected glimpse of the interior life by day and providing a welcome beacon at night. The new build is located against the site perimeter, resulting in the net loss of an underused north-facing yard and sub-standard existing facilities.

The school’s accommodation is arranged around an external courtyard, connecting existing dead ends and significantly improving accessibility and connectivity up and across the range of buildings.

The new activity studio opens onto the courtyard to provide a new performance and meeting space at the heart of the public institution and an out-of-hours resource for the local community. It sits adjacent to the new music department, a family of acoustically separate rooms accommodating individual and group learning, rehearsal and performance.