This new three-storey boarding house provides bedrooms and communal space for over 60 boarding pupils at Sevenoaks School, and two self-contained duplex apartments for resident staff.
2022 RIBA South East Award for Architecture
2022 RIBA National Award for Architecture
The project was delivered to an ambitious programme so that it could open at the start of the new academic year. Speed of construction was a significant consideration in the development of the design and project procurement.
The superstructure of the building is made from cross-laminated timber (CLT), enabling the full superstructure to be erected on site in just three months. The first CLT panels were required to arrive on site just nine weeks after the main works started; appointment of the CLT contractor with a pre-construction services agreement allowed final fabrication drawings to be developed in advance of the appointment of the main contract to meet this deadline.
The thin reinforced concrete raft foundation slab forms the base to the CLT superstructure and accommodates local variations in ground conditions across the site. Located within a groundwater source protection zone, the site’s below-ground drainage and disposal of rainwater was developed in close coordination with the Environment Agency.
