Henrietta Barnett School Buildings in North London by Hopkins Architects

Hopkins Architects get planning for South Hampstead High School campus and complete two arts buildings for Henrietta Barnett School. Hopkins Architects’ design for new teaching and sports facilities at South Hampstead High School (Girls’ Day School Trust), was granted planning permission by the London Borough of Camden in January 2011. The new facilities include a new school entrance building, classrooms, library, music school, indoor sports hall and external netball court. The development transforms and rebuilds existing school buildings to create a coherent overall campus, incorporating new and old fabric.

Having occupied its present site for over 120 years, this represents a significant step in securing the school’s long term future and maintaining the outstanding standards of teaching that have made it the leading school in Camden and placed it in the top ten academic schools in the country. The development will also improve the School’s sustainability performance, making it an exemplar of sustainable school design. The aim is to achieve a 95% improvement on the school’s current energy consumption, with a resulting annual saving of 45 tonnes of carbon. In addition, renewable technologies will contribute 20% of the school’s energy demand. All of these initiatives will qualify the scheme for a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Designed by Hopkins Architects, two new buildings for the Henrietta Barnett School have been completed in the heart of the Hampstead Garden Suburb. The buildings are the first new public buildings on the site for over sixty years, and sit adjacent to the Grade II* Listed existing School Building, designed by Edwin Lutyens.

The new buildings house the Art, DT, Drama and Music departments, although were designed with the flexibility to be general teaching classrooms, should the need arise in the future. The form and materials were carefully designed to complement the existing school building, two churches and residential buildings that all face onto the Central Square and were all designed by Lutyens. The red brickwork walls were constructed in Flemish bond using lime-based mortar, with exposed precast slabs at first floor level and a timber-framed roof with tiles to match those used typically in the suburb.