Architects And Quantity Surveyors
Taunton Junior School SAT Building
The amalgamation of two separate boys' and girls' junior schools on the main campus of Taunton School necessitated very complex and detailed preplanning not just in the design of the new facilities but of timing and practicality given that funds were limited and school life had to continue uninterrupted.
This building houses the specialist teaching facilities of the new school and has been located at the hub of the development. Its position between two distinctive existing buildings of differing characters posed challenging design problems. These were resolved by means of a sensitive approach to building mass, scale and to choice of materials. Thus the new building whilst not aping its neighbours still takes its place comfortably in the school campus.
The co-ordination of the building plan from ground to first floor was facilitated by the generation of drawings using C.A.D. Nevertheless, the simple appearance of the building belies the complex steel frame within. The planning arrangement dictated by the requirements of the brief and the limited site area available created further constructional difficulties that have been imaginatively solved.
