Next month should finally see construction completed on a major new building at a prestigious Wiltshire boarding school.
The two-storey Innovation Centre is part of a radical overhaul of science facilities at Marlborough College, with the programme also including the redesign and refurbishment of the Newton science building and the north and south wings.
Brymor Construction’s erection of the state-of-the-art centre began later than scheduled in October 2019, after preparatory work on the site had been halted following the discovery of a colony of brown bats in a building slated for demolition.
The 1,000m² of teaching and exhibition space was then “significantly delayed” by Covid-19.
Now, though, the school stands ready to enjoy a capacious facility intended to allow pupils to test and explore ideas unconstrained by standard classroom sizes. Instead, the generous floor-to-floor heights will allow ample space for the building, testing and displaying of large-scale prototypes.
You may also like: In December we reported on how The Cricketer magazine rated Marlborough College as one of the top schools for the sport
The facility itself is the product of forward-thinking design, including the employment of a thermally efficient envelope, photovoltaic panels, natural light and ventilation, and reduced water consumption.
“Science, technology and innovation are deservedly at the top of the educational agenda, and Marlborough has a desire to be at the forefront of this educational movement, playing our part in equipping the next generation of young people with the skills, creativity and passion to engage in these three crucial areas,” said the school’s director of capital projects, Bill Roe.
“We do not know what the employment of tomorrow will look like in [what is known as] the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but Marlborough is poised to adapt, to invest and to be ready to approach STEM education in a forward-thinking and innovative manner which best equips our pupils – and those from our partner schools – for the challenges and expectations of the future.”
