King Ethelbert

A £12.2 million project at King Ethelbert School provides five independent buildings; two of which are new build and three are existing buildings.

Designed by architects Hazle McCormack Young, the design reflects the remodelling of the school around five distinct learning zones – Design, Commercial, Communication, Discovery and Wellbeing – each of which will benefit from state-of-the-art technology.

The most iconic of these is the Creative Zone, which is styled more like a college campus or a modern business park than a typical secondary school. This Zone is prominently placed at the front of the grounds and houses the school’s arts specialist teaching facilities for art, music, creative arts and food technology.

As a stand-alone building, it reinforces the school’s ethos of offering a campus environment, with natural light, fresh air and two external terraces at first floor level providing a sense of space and outdoor living.

Externally, the building is extensively glazed with render and timber clad panels. The highly flexible interior spaces are linked with a double height entrance and staircase, with views back over the main school entrance.