Buildings

Our renewal campaign plays an integral role in the School’s vision for the future. We have achieved our first goal of funding a £114 million redevelopment of the buildings between 2011 and 2019, and are now committed to increasing substantially the amount of fee assistance we can offer.

General Teaching Building

The final phase of the senior school reconstruction began with detailed planning approval in 2014 to replace our main teaching block. Progress since then has been rapid.


Outline consent for a masterplan to rebuild most of the original (1960s) school buildings was granted in 2009 and the work is being completed in a series of discrete phases. The first phase began in 2010 with the completion of enabling and infrastructure works. In 2013, the new science building was opened and in 2015 we opened our new drama centre.

The replacement of the main teaching block forms the last major academic building project for the foreseeable future on the seniors site.

Construction of phase one of the General Teaching Building started in 2015, and in autumn 2017 was completed, built within the budget of £36m, on time and safely.  The centrepiece of the new building is the Kayton Library, extending over two floors facing the Thames and includes two seminar rooms, the Brian Schofield Rare Books Room and the School Archives.  Extensive landscaping of the old north access road has created an attractive space linking the Drama Centre and Wathen Hall to Founder’s Court.

The building also houses the school’s Kitchen and Dining Hall, along with 28 classrooms: the departments of Geography, History, Modern and Foreign Languages, Politics and Philosophy and Religious Studies.

Phase two has a budget of £37.8m and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2019, when we will unveil a new atrium with mezzanine; a chapel with memorial boards; a secular hall; a new Montgomery Room opening onto Founders’ Court; pupil changing rooms; another 20 classrooms; and administrative offices.

The completion of phase 2 in 2019 will bring to a close the main redevelopment of St Paul’s, which commenced in 2011 and will eventually cost £114m.

 

New science building

With the opening of our new science building in 2013, we achieved the first major milestone in the £114 million redevelopment of St Paul’s.


The building transforms the heart of the school, creating a new main entrance and reception area and a landscaped central courtyard. Completed over 18 months, on time and on budget, the work was carried out without disruption to the day-to-day life of the school.

Highlights of the new building include:

  • 18 teaching laboratories for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, arranged on 3 floors, together with prep and store rooms, resource areas and offices.
  • Informal study areas and break-out spaces overlooking the central courtyard.
  • New main reception area, visitors’ suite, café and Upper Eighth (Year 13) common room.
  • New centres for Careers & Universities, reprographics and IT Services.
  • Natural ventilation using passive environmental, low-energy, low-carbon technology.
  • Links to the existing sports complex and main teaching block, and direct connections to future phases of our development programme.
  • Newly landscaped external areas and parking facilities.

The natural and physical sciences are exceptionally popular at St Paul’s, our specialist science teachers, many from research backgrounds, exploring topics well beyond the examined curriculum. This new building, funded partly through the generosity of Old Paulines, parents and, in particular, the Mercers’ Company, proclaims the value we accord to scientific enquiry.

The new building also adds significantly to what we can offer to the community through our various partnership programmes.

In 2014, the new science building received a Civic Trust Award. Designed by Nicholas Hare Architects, it was also shortlisted for a RIBA award and won a 2015 RIBA London Award the following year.

Find out how you can support the campaign.