Recovering Robert Pearce House, Sarah Gowans

Schools Recovering Robert Pearce House Sarah Gowans describes how life goes on at Bishop’s Stortford College

The events of 29th September 2015 will be for ever etched in the minds of the Bishop’s Stortford College community for, at around 02.40, a fire broke out in Robert Pearce House (RPH) – a boys’ boarding house. The alarm was raised by one of the boys and within minutes all occupants were safely outside. The fire quickly spread from the roof of the Arts and Crafts building, dating from 1923, down into the first and second floors. The building was almost completely destroyed with just the front façade and the cellars remaining.

The boys and staff were given temporary accommodation in School House, another boarding house, which meant the suspension of boys’ flexi-boarding, but life at the College, home to some 1170 pupils, was only on hold for 24 hours as life quickly swung back to normal.

Within a few weeks of the fire, plans for a temporary boarding house were placed with the Council. A structure comprising 52 Portakabins had been designed that would be fabricated off site and installed in ‘box-sized chunks’ in situ. The scheme would take just over 2 months to install and fit out. As soon as planning permission was received, the ground works commenced and the installation of the Portakabins started in December, continuing into the New Year. By the 24th February, just 5 months after the fire, the new temporary boarding house was ready for the boys to move into.

The boys settled in well, enjoying their new space. The rooms were somewhat larger than they were used to, the study rooms and social spaces, well equipped and spacious. Other boarders took a keen interest in their new accommodation (the RPH colour isn’t green for nothing) and life settled down again.

With the help of the loss adjusters, architects and designers,

Work has been taking place to restore Robert Pearce House.

plans for the re-building of the original RPH were underway and, by July 2016, planning permission had been granted.

Whilst all this was going on, the College was also in the midst of another major development – the planning for and building of two new boarding houses, one to replace the existing School House and one to create a new girls’ boarding house; and a new boys’ day house to replace Collett House. The new boarding houses will offer vastly improved facilities, including en suite rooms whilst increasing the boarding facilities for girls to the same level of provision as for boys. The plans also allow for the original College buildings, School House and Collett House, which date from the 1860s, to be redeveloped into superb new classroom facilities, a new administrative hub and a teaching staff facility. This development started in late April and is expected to be completed during the Autumn term of 2017.

When coupled with the rebuilding of RPH, this major development will mean that three quarters of the College Senior School boarding facilities will be brand new by the time the projects are completed. It’s a substantial financial commitment but one the College feels is worthwhile as it will ensure that they are able to offer both day and boarding pupils the best possible facilities.

Whilst the fire was a catastrophic event and one which no one wants to repeat, the College is sure that the new buildings and the rebuilding of RPH will give the College another 150 years to look forward to, as it now makes plans to celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary in 2018. Sarah Gowans is the Marketing Manager at Bishop’s Stortford College