top of page

Location: Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire

Client: Hertfordshire Schools Building Partnership (Hertfordshire County Council / Balfour Beatty Construction)

Value: Undisclosed

Status: Completed 2023

​

Avanti Grange Secondary School

ArchitecturePLB was appointed as Architect and Lead Designer for this new 1,200-place secondary school in Bishop’s Stortford. The design is based on a ‘street and fingers’ arrangement, with a central full-height glazed spine running north-south and four two-storey teaching wings extending perpendicular to the east. This layout gives each department a self-contained identity while keeping the main shared facilities, including dining, the Learning Resource Centre and the assembly hall, central and easily accessible. All teaching spaces face north or south, avoiding low-angle sun and ensuring consistently high levels of natural daylight throughout.

The western side of the building accommodates the larger communal volumes: the sports hall, assembly hall and activity studio, expressed externally as distinct elements. The four teaching wings to the east are clad in buff facing brick with a near-continuous ribbon of glazing, punctuated by recessed spandrel panels and coloured opaque glazing that breaks down the length of each elevation. Alternating parapet heights on each side of the wings provides variety and avoids a repetitious or institutional appearance. In contrast, the main entrance at the south-west corner is given a deliberately civic treatment with a double height brick colonnade and deeply recessed entrance to contrast with the horizontality of the teaching wings.

The school occupies a split site straddling the A120, with the main building and MUGA to the south and detached playing fields to the north, connected by a dedicated pedestrian bridge. Community use was integral to the brief, with discrete secure access provided directly from the car park to the sports facilities and the Art department, allowing these to operate independently outside school hours. The building incorporates air source heat pumps, photovoltaic roof panels and a SuDS drainage system with an attenuation swale, supporting the low-carbon strategy.

Project Team

To find out more about this project, please make contact.

Similar Projects

bottom of page