State-of-the-art King’s School development begins on-site

Work has begun on a brand new state-of-the-art facility at King’s School in Macclesfield – one of the UK’s biggest independent day schools.

It is thought that the 80-acre Derby Fields development, which forms part of a wider programme of works at King’s School worth around £60M, will complete in May 2020. Three sites are to be co-located at a single location, creating a new 16,000 square metre academic building with 350 rooms, in addition to a brand new sports centre which will include: a six lane, 25 metre swimming pool; a six-court sports hall and a dedicated indoor cricket centre. Outdoors, five new rugby pitches, one rounders field, two AstroTurf hockey pitches and six netball courts will also be created.

According to Natalie Clemson, Associate Director at Pick Everard and the project’s design and engineering consultant: “As well as including fantastic educational and sporting facilities, the new building will be highly energy efficient and sustainable with a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’. It will also score highly on environmental management, responsible construction, resource efficiency, low energy and water use with a reduced carbon footprint, as well as efficient heating and lighting systems and controls, among other sustainable features.”

The new development is the single most ambitious project in the school’s 516-year history. It will supplement, and sit beside, the school’s existing Derby Fields campus. Crucially, the project has been funded through the school’s selling of land at Fence Avenue and Cumberland Street to housing developers. The move will provide sustainable and affordable homes in the area alongside retirement and assisted living options.

“The school selling its existing sites to fund the project has freed up valuable land in the town centre for housing,” added Natalie, “which in turn will address the town’s need for additional housing and provide significant economic growth. We also worked with the school to deliver a series of value engineering workshops, which contributed savings of up £6M, as well as providing design solutions to maximise teaching space while meeting the client’s budget.”

John Kennerley, Chair of Governors at King’s School concluded: “We are delighted to be able to launch our 2020 vision for King’s. It will deliver not just a fantastic campus for our pupils, but enable us to develop further community use of the school beyond the 27 organisations that already share our facilities.”

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