Ward’s House

Ward's House is a new boarding house at leading independent school, Wycliffe College. The building replaces and improves upon an existing boarding house to provide modern, flexible boarding to the school.

Set within the school’s Cotswolds estate, the design is a contemporary interpretation of the historic Georgian and Victorian limestone and brick buildings that are found both on the site and the surrounding area of Stroud. This design response is reflected in the scale, massing, vertical window proportions, and material palette chosen.

An important consideration in our design approach to the building was the retention of a number of mature trees that surrounded the site, including a memorial tree that was planted in 1966. As a result, the building was designed with a ‘cranked’ articulated plan configuration.

A principal entrance facade is created facing the school campus and overlooking the cricket pitches between. The opposing façade faces the public highway, with the existing dense tree enclosure offering privacy with a south-facing garden and terrace recreation space.

The boarding house provides accommodation for 55 full-time boarders and 32 day boarders across three floors in a mixture of single, twin, quad and ‘flexi’ rooms, all with ensuite facilities.

Social and shared spaces have been accommodated both at the heart of the plan and throughout the floor levels. Two apartments and two bedsits at opposing ends of the building provide the accommodation facilities for the boarding house’s assistants and house parents.

The core room model and furniture configuration can be adapted from two single rooms to either a twin, quad, ‘flexi’, or accessible room, or vice-versa. This has been achieved by the incorporation of a pre-designed, pre-built ‘knock out’ panel, which can be easily removed or built by the school during the summer vacation period while maintaining the required acoustic and fire performance.

The new boarding house is a valuable addition to Wycliffe College’s offering, reflecting the school’s ambition to blend the traditional and the modern – not only in its architecture, but also in its broad curriculum and forward-thinking ethos.