Working closely with Cotswold District Council and Historic England, Westonbirt School are extremely excited to have received full planning permission for the development of 8 new classrooms, designed to reflect the history of the Walled Garden where arboretum-founder and original owner of Westonbirt House, Robert Holford, famously grew his orchids
Adjacent to the beautiful Italian Gardens, the Walled Garden historically accommodated Holford’s glasshouses. As Westonbirt became a school, over 90 years ago, the Walled Garden witnessed many changes and more recently hosted what was affectionally named ‘the old gym’ – a building that neither fit the modern needs of the school or the aesthetics of its rich history and was therefore demolished this Autumn term
Growth since the school transitioned to coeducation in 2019 has facilitated development and this innovative project marks the first stage of an architectural masterplan at Westonbirt. Mimicking Holford’s historic glasshouses, the classrooms have been specifically designed to reflect the heritage of their site and to maximise the inspiring surrounds of Westonbirt’s grounds for its pupils.
Headmistress, Natasha Dangerfield, says;
“The beautiful new classrooms are designed to enhance our provision and, as always at Westonbirt, maximise the benefit to students of our inspiring setting.”
Future plans to be submitted as part of the masterplan include upgrades to the sports facilities, the Prep School, increased boarding, Design and Technology facilities and improvements to car parking and traffic flow at Westonbirt.
