Warwickshire school set to relocate as part of a £30m development plan
A WARWICKSHIRE school is set to relocate to a new site as part of a £30m development plan.
The Warwick Independent Schools Foundation has drawn up plans to move King’s High School for Girls from its current town centre site to the new campus on Myton Road where Warwick School and Warwick Preparatory School are already based.
The move, which will take three years to complete, will see the creation of a new main school building, a new shared music building, a new sixth form centre and improvements and extension to the Bridge Sports Centre.
New and improved sports pitches – including 4G and all weather surfaces – will also be built at the site.
The Foundation has spent several years investigating ways of developing King’s High School away from the town centre site it has occupied since it began in 1879.
If the plans are approved, the current King’s High School site would be developed by the Foundation at the end of the project.
Richard Nicholson, Head of King’s High School, said: “King’s High is a highly respected and very successful school with an excellent track record. Its facilities are first class, but there are limitations to future development purely because of the nature of the site.
“We are constantly looking at ways of improving our offer to pupils in all areas, and a major part of that has been how we develop King’s High School for the next generation.”
He said various options had been considered but the one to create a new school on the Myton Road campus offered the best solution.
“It would allow us to create new school facilities, some of which will be shared throughout our school community, it will mean increased collaboration between the schools and will allow us to develop a masterplan for the whole site to ensure we have the best traffic and safety systems in place,” he added.
“The project gives us the opportunity to offer one-stop educational facilities for our pupils from three-18, and will continue to honour our determination to provide state-of-the-art, efficient buildings which are fit for now and for the future.
“It also allows us to improve the quality of the campus for all our pupils, staff and the wider community we serve.”
Simon Jones, the Foundation Secretary, said: “By taking a 600-pupil school out of the historic centre of Warwick it should also help to ease traffic congestion and could eventually allow for some much-needed new housing.
“We believe this is a very good move for all three schools but that it is also good for the town of Warwick. We consulted with Warwick District Council throughout the process of drawing up our plans.”
The project is being managed by Arup, while Nicholas Hare Architects has undertaken the design work.
