Uppingham School

During a site visit we surveyed the existing spaces, took photographs and discussed problems and solutions with the staff and students. We discovered several issues:

• Communal spaces were ineffective in bringing students out of their rooms to both work collaboratively and socialise.
• Use of shared space wasn’t clear, therefore it was difficult for students to make the most effective use of space (e.g. combinations of noisy sociable activity and quiet working spaces in the same room).
• The current interior scheme felt a little dated and the use of colour was off putting to students.
• The existing design was unappealing and failed to attract new students and parents to the boarding house whilst lacking a sense of welcoming homeliness.

OHD created a series of colour schemes for each activity zone (several rooms carried out the same function and therefore used the same colour scheme) with sociable and relaxing spaces being predominantly softer shades of dark blue and dusty pink, active communal spaces (for group work) being more energising with pops of vibrant yellow and circulation spaces (which the students had complained were too shocking in their previous yellow) using softer tonal variations of blue.

The dining hall design was inspired by a campfire in the woods (bringing people together around warmth and food) and where possible, individual study spaces were placed alongside windows to allow students a view onto greenery.

In the bedrooms we made use of several different colour schemes which aligned with the bedroom size and number of occupants - there were individual rooms for the older students, dorm rooms of four beds and sharer rooms of two beds. We also incorporated a scheme for the day room – which allowed students within the house who weren’t boarding, a homely space of their own to retreat to.