A swimming pool for students with special educational needs at a school in Buckinghamshire, sheltered by a raised timber roof.
Alfriston School
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
£1.8 million
446m2
“On its own terms this project is almost perfect.”
Rowan Moore, Architecture Critic, The Observer
“We didn’t just want a functional pool, but a place designed such that the pupils would really want to go in it. If we were going to do it, we had to do it right. The architect understood our needs and responded with enthusiasm and creativity.”
Jinna Male, headteacher, The Observer
“It commands its situation with quiet intensity, much like a gymnast bent on making a complicated procedure look like the easiest thing in the world.”
Ellis Woodman, The Architectural Review
“We originally had a very different project, but then we stumbled on the idea of pitched roof, with geometries defined by the roof of the main school building. It seemed to make sense at once.”
Joe Morris, Architect
- Pool extension and gym refurbishment for state-funded secondary school for girls with a range of special educational needs
- Masterplan designed for phased design programme, attracting funding from Sport England, local government and private donors
- 24-person capacity pool
- Prefabricated timber roof structure on a concrete retaining base
- New building is contemporary expression of local pitched roof vernacular
Client: Alfriston School
Structural Engineer: Elliott Wood
Services/Environmental Engineer: Skelly & Couch
Timber Prefab Structure: Cowley Timberwork
