Cranleigh School: Emms Centre

Since 2004 Pringle Richards Sharratt have carried out a number of projects at Cranleigh School, Surrey. Our master plan for the senior school site identified the scope for growth within parameters acceptable to the local planning authority. A new £7.0 million academic centre comprising 3,500m2 of science laboratories, classrooms and lecture theatre, followed soon after the conclusion of the master plan.

The new building is organised around a covered central court, with the larger science laboratories on the ground level and additional science spaces, classrooms and a lecture theatre able to accommodate an entire form is also on the upper level. The building provides an interpretation of the traditional quadrangle arrangement as found elsewhere in the School. The strong roof shapes, covered in patinated standing seam zinc, sit comfortably with its 1800s neighbours and the countryside beyond. 

Hand-made English bond brickwork combined with cedar cladding provide a texture consistent with the older building in the School. The ground floor science laboratories define the structural grid and are built as large permanent spaces. At first floor, light weight acoustic partitions and a raised access floor allow flexibility for future arrangements. 

The project achieved a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating.

The building was opened by Lord Patten in May 2009.