Ashfold Management Services offer a unique knowledge of construction project management services to clients with new, refurbishment and renovation building projects across rural England, London and other UK towns and cities. We recently worked with Windlesham House School in rustic West Sussex to successfully deliver a state-of-the-art new sports building in an area rich in heritage and tradition.
Creating a new legacy
Windlesham House School is one of the UK’s top independent schools. Established in 1837, the historic school estate is set in 65 acres within the beautiful South Downs National Park.
In 2014 the school embarked upon an ambitious phased programme to renew it’s sports facilities, including the replacement of an 80 year old swimming pool that had gone past it’s serviceable life.
The school had not delivered a substantial new building in 30 years and in 2015 they selected Ashfold Management Services to project manage the sensitive design, management and delivery of new state-of-the-art facilities.
Opened in Spring 2018 by former Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, the new pool and sports hall is already proving very popular with children, their families and staff. This summer we were honoured that the Sussex Heritage Trust awarded the school a High Commendation in their prestigious annual awards.
Contemporary design driven by a heritage location
From the outset the team worked in close consultation with the school, local heritage and conservation groups. The new two-storey building has an internal area of 2,400 sqm including a 25m swimming pool, four court sports hall and associated facilities. It has been cleverly designed to nestle into the South Downs landscape and complement the historic architecture of the Windlesham House School estate, without compromising on providing children with welcoming, accessible, safe and fun new facilities.
A palette of sustainable materials
The light-filled pool features warm glulam beams and colourful lane dividers that represent the school colours. Externally it is clad in cedar shingles and a sedum roof. A flint wall - a traditional feature of the estate and the Sussex area - has been cleverly introduced to minimise the impact of the new building. When viewed from the South Downs above the new building is hidden by the thriving sedum roof, pictured below.
Strategic advice for award winning projects; How we can help
In our role as project manager and contract administrator, Ashfold provided advice and strategic direction to the school’s client team, helping them deliver this highly commended new building. Initially this included selecting and appointing the project team, agreeing and managing project cash flow.
The Ashfold team take the time to understand the intricacies of each project and use our combined skills to successfully deliver beautiful buildings and practical spaces for clients in the education, commercial, residential and cultural sectors. If you have a rural project we can help with, please contact Martin Long on 07980 721314, or martin@ashfoldservices.co.uk. Alternatively visit our website; ashfoldservices.co.uk.
Windlesham House School project team
Project Manager: Ashfold Management Services
Concept Architect: Neil Holland and Victoria Holland Architects
Delivery Architect: Saunders Architects LLP
Contractor: Kier Construction
Structural Engineer: Elliott Wood
Services Engineer: E3