Education - Levitt Bernstein

Education

Portfolio

As architects, landscape architects and urban designers, we create award winning buildings, living landscapes and thriving urban spaces, using inventive design to solve real life challenges. Each of our projects is different but the driving force behind every one is the desire to create something that is inherently beautiful, sustainable and useful.

Designing buildings for education is an established strand of our portfolio and incorporates projects for all age groups, from nurseries and schools to colleges, universities and other independent bodies – both publicly and privately funded.

We work on both new and existing buildings, which are often on constrained urban sites and/or listed. Above all, we always strike a balance between respecting architectural heritage whilst meeting modern day quality and accessibility standards.

Our work covers teaching, technical, laboratory, social, leisure and support space as well as residential accommodation. We also draw on our experience in other sectors such as the arts, where we have expertise in the design of auditoriums and for exhibitions.

From our offices in London and Manchester, our urban designers, landscape architects and interior designers also enable us to look holistically at all projects, providing the expertise to deal with both the macro scale masterplanning and micro scale detailing both inside and outside the buildings.

Our clients include:

• Eltham College

• Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools

• King’s Bruton School

• Stonyhurst College

• Marymount international School

• Elizabeth College

• St Albans High School for Girls

• Oswestry School

• University of the Arts London

• Kingston University

• University College London

• University of Cambridge

• Withington Girls’ School.

UAL Wimbledon

Merton, London

University of the Arts London

Wimbledon College of Arts is an internationallyrecognised education provider, however, their facilities were not reflecting their status or technical requirements. We adapted and refurbished their existing campus, located in a Conservation Area, to create an integrated performance environment. New performance and rehearsal studios have been created, followed by significant refurbishment to the theatre and library. No major demolition took place, instead, external works enhance the general appearance and tie both buildings together. Flexible, multi-functional ‘pockets’ of outdoor space bring students and staff closer to nature. This programme of works fundamentally improved the student experience as well as presented an opportunity to create a more sustainable campus.

Under the Headmaster’s expansion plans, we have transformed a failing 1960s wing extension into a new sixth form centre, with a variety of teaching, study, seminar and social spaces organised over three storeys. Located adjacent to the listed main school building and forming the fourth side of the historic quad, its design is a modern interpretation of classical architecture. A new wellbeing centre, clad in black stained timber, also sits as a modest pavilion in the new landscape.

“I am absolutely delighted with the new Turberville building at Eltham College, which will allow us to provide exceptional new facilities for our students as we look to enhance our teaching and learning space before becoming fully co-educational from 2020.”

Guy Sanderson, Headmaster, Eltham College

Eltham College

Bromley, London

Eltham College

“From the first moment it opened, the building lived up to its promise of being not only visually stunning but alsofit-for-purpose as a high quality educational facility. You would think it had always been there.”

Susan Roxby, Bursar, Eltham College

Perrot Court is the re-imagining of a disconnected, monolithic office building into an inspiring, contemporary learning facility. Favouring re-use over replacement, the project makes best use of existing facilities through a considered strategy of refurbishment, environmental retrofit and targeted architectural intervention, to provide best value for our client and minimise the loss of embodied carbon on site.

A new bridge and pedestrian link connect the re-purposed building with the existing campus, as part of a wider placemaking strategy conceived through our earlier Master Estates Plan. Significantly expanding existing school facilities with a new sixth form centre, library, learning enrichment and wellbeing centre, social sciences and drama teaching departments, the refurbished building also includes a major administrative suite and the main school reception.

“People are moving into the building! Y13 Prelims, Learning Enrichment, student tours and the first books are in the library. Very exciting! It’s been brilliant working with the Levitt Bernstein team on this transformation.”

Jenny Palmer (Principal, Elizabeth College)

Perrot Court

Guernsey Elizabeth College

School of Management, UCL

Tower Hamlets, London

University College of London

This new satellite facility on Level 38 of One Canada Square is inspired by the School’s interface between business and academia. The floor is split with one half providing high specification teaching spaces, including two Harvard style theatres and numerous break-out facilities; and the other half a range of office and workspaces. These are organised into distinct ‘villages’, each defined by an informal array of cellular rooms looking out onto shared workspace. Across the floor, broken geometries create informal spaces for serendipitous meetings, encouraging collaboration and interaction at every turn.

“More than just providing the highest quality facilities in an operational sense, our new home in One Canada Square reflects our strong focus on innovation, technology, analytics and entrepreneurship, with communication and collaboration encouraged at every turn.”

Bert De Reyck, Director, School of Management, UCL

“By using broken geometries across the whole floorplate we’ve created informal spaces and shared breakout areas which allow for serendipitous meetings between students and faculty, with the aim of sparking unexpected conversations and shared creative thinking.”

Matthew Goulcher, Managing Director

This project encloses an existing service yard as an undercroft to create a new public space at the heart of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. Conceived as a contemporary, high quality, stone landscaped terrace within the historic courtyard, it features a striking ‘fourth façade’, which completes the classical courtyard composition and conceals the plethora of services required for the existing buildings and the new lower refectory. Constructed using Portland Stone and designed to classical Georgian proportions, it is a contemporary interpretation of the surrounding historic architecture and helps to tie all the courtyard elements together.

“This is a significant milestone for our Transforming UCL programme delivering flexible outdoor space at the heart of our Bloomsbury campus... It is a fabulous space developed for our staff, students and visitors and will benefit and inspire our entire academic community for generations to come”.

Andrew Grainger, Director of UCL Estates

Wilkins Terrace, UCL

Camden, London

University College London

“This project very successfully encloses an existing services yard to create much need new social congregation space at the heart of campus. The façade employs high quality materials in the form of stone and brick which are well proportioned to give a pleasant aspect.”

Civic Trust Awards judge

King’s School, Bruton

Somerset

King’s School, Bruton

The new music school at King’s School, Bruton, sits on the site of a former open-air swimming pool, amongst a collection of listed buildings dating from the 16th century. Facilities include a recital hall, peripatetic rooms, practice rooms, music classrooms and a recording studio.

A carefully crafted ‘box of tricks’, the design has been driven by the constrained but inspiring site and an ambitious client brief. Situated within a rich landscape of historic structures, the setting demanded an architecturally sympathetic response, whilst delivering the complex technical and acoustic requirements of a music school.

“Since the idea of a new Music School was first discussed, I hoped the building would transform both our music facilities and an unappealing brownfield site at the centre of our historic campus. The final building is even better than I hoped for… The design, use of light and space as well as the acoustic engineering are all of the highest quality.”

Ian Wilmshurst, Headmaster, King’s School

Fryer House, Junior Boarding

Reading

Leighton Park School

A strategic decision at the school to relocate the junior boarders from the current vertical house system to a boarding house of their own has led to the remodelling of the current junior day house. Accommodating 25 boarding spaces for students and associated staff residences, the house is split into boys and girls wings with combined social lounge and kitchen facilities. The dormitories will sleep three to four, with an ensuite shower room in each. The design addresses opportunities for future phased refurbishment, including enclosing the external courtyard to create improved internal social space for both junior day and boarding pupils.

“Since progressing with the refurbishment of Fryer Boarding House, it’s clear the level of quality and finish is just as we hope for here at Leighton Park!”

Matthew Judd, Headmaster, Leighton Park School

“The imaginative scheme has transformed the former bookshop, pub and laboratories into a facility that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Education Design & Build Magazine

This project united three disparate adjacent buildings, one of which is Grade II listed, to provide new student union facilities. Centred on the concept of ‘found spaces’, we retained elements of the existing buildings and combined them with new interventions to create a raw, industrial feel. The previous laboratory has been modified and extended to form a new social circulation hub alongside a basement venue, bar, café, rehearsal rooms, dance studio, media suites, as well as offices and meeting rooms.

“By combining the old and new with sensitivity and ingenuity, we’ve transformed this space into something far greater than the sum of its parts.”

Matthew Goulcher, Managing Director

UCL Union, Gower Place

Camden, London

University College of London

Withington Girls’ School

Manchester

Withington Girls’ School

In order to provide additional facilities for this growing school, we first provided a masterplan for the estate focusing on reclaiming underused areas. An external courtyard is now a new internal hub encompassing the existing two storey octagonal arts building, which has been kept and a new roof added at first floor level to link it to the surrounding buildings. A new two form entry, 7-11, junior school also infills space providing eight new classrooms, alongside a hall, IT suite, library, staff office, storage rooms and changing areas.

“The new facilities will transform the learning of our girls in a number of subjects, providing for practical, hands-on activities and giving huge amounts of extra space for girls’ independent learning and social interaction alike.”

Sue Marks, Headmistress

Dating from 1593, this historic estate comprises a mix of Grade I, II* and II listed structures and landscape features. Working closely with stakeholders, including staff, governors and Historic England, we have completed a comprehensive strategic masterplan for the site.

Our cohesive vision for the buildings and grounds respects and draws inspiration from the school’s rich heritage, whilst identifying opportunities for future development to meet evolving educational needs. Reuse of existing buildings and underused space has been prioritised and supported with new buildings where necessary. We are currently working with the College to deliver the first stages of the masterplan.

“Levitt Bernstein immediately immersed themselves in the culture and history of Stonyhurst. They produced a masterplan which has engaged all the stakeholders and captures every aspect of our estate.”

Simon Marsden, Bursar, Stonyhurst College

Stonyhurst College M

asterplan

Lancashire

Stonyhurst College

“UCL Laws has, at long last, a home fit for our worldleading research, teaching and social enterprise. The project has given the Faculty more than a building: it’s given us an inspiring environment in which our whole community can come together.”

Professor Piet Eeckhout, Dean, Faculty of Laws

Faculty of Laws, UCL

Camden, London

University College of London

With increasing numbers of staff and students requiring improved facilities, our design fully integrates all existing parts of Bentham House – a Grade II listed former Union Headquarters –and the adjacent mid-20th century Gideon Schreier Wing. A new atrium between the two buildings provides access to all levels and a welcoming, legible heart to the faculty. Within the new brick and stone extension, we have added multi-purpose teaching/ seminar spaces on the lowest floors and new offices and support spaces above. A new Portland stone façade unites the street elevation referencing the predominantly Georgian context.

“The highly creative plans Levitt Bernstein produced for the building have seamlessly married the much-loved traditional spaces with bright, modern facilities, giving our Faculty a home that reflects and respects its heritage, while also supporting and driving its forward-thinking, global agenda.” Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Project Sponsor, UCL Laws

“This project brings enormous benefits for all members of the department. Among these are new specialist teaching labs, social hub spaces for the students that are in close proximity to their Professors, and vastly improved and entirely new research laboratories.”

Professor Lars Stixrude, Head of Department, UCL Earth Sciences

Kathleen Lonsdale Building, UCL

Camden, London

University College of London

This substantial Grade II listed, five storey building has been completely refurbished to create high quality, academic space for various departments within the Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences and to co-locate the entire Earth Science department for the first time in UCL’s history. Specialist laboratories, teaching rooms, research facilities and offices have been provided, supported by areas for socialising and group working, whilst issues of accessibility and wayfinding have also been addressed. Importantly, period features have been restored where possible, including the original staircase and glazed brick columns.

“Levitt Bernstein had to be bold when updating the fabric and function of the building, but sensitive to the underlying spatial and material principles that make it such a remarkable example of 20th century architecture.”

Owen Pritchard, Blueprint Magazine

Harvey Court

Cambridge

Gonville & Caius College

We were commissioned to refurbish this seminal Grade II* listed collegiate building, ensuring all the new interventions respected its architectural heritage. Our design hinges around rethinking movement and linking the ground and first floor internally for the first time. The insertion of a new lift allowed us to reorientate the building, creating a new main entrance sensitively designed to reproduce the original detailing. New bathrooms have been ingeniously incorporated through utilising unused storage spaces, whilst communal facilities have been refurbished throughout. Finally, better insulation and solar panels lower the carbon footprint of the building.

Marymount School, Masterplan and Decarbonisation Plan

Kingston

Marymount International School

Marymount International School are committed to ensuring all future developments on their Kingston, London site are considered within a new masterplan framework as well as leading in sustainable practice through a parallel decarbonisation study. The masterplan study involved detailed analysis, stakeholder engagement and options studies leading to a detailed preferred final estate vision of phased reorganistion, refurbishment and extension. The holistic approach is completed through a comprehensive landscape strategy and the decarbonisation plan involving an environmental audit reviewing the existing condition of building fabric and systems, providing an understanding of energy consumption and a targeted timeline for the School to decarbonise by 2040.

41%

Buildings are likely to have some insulation

57%

Buildings are likely to have little/no insulation*

Approximate age ranges of buildings. Percentages generated on an area weighted basis. *Unless that insulation has been added by the School since the building's construction.

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