Cranwell House is a Grade II-listed Victorian mansion house set within a significant historic landscape in the World Heritage City of Bath. It was purchased by The Girls’ Day School Trust as the future home for the Junior School of The Royal High School Bath, which was looking to move from outmoded facilities on its existing site elsewhere in the city centre.

Following a limited competition the practice was appointed to sensitively refurbish the main house, reinstating the principal rooms of the house as new teaching spaces and introducing a contemporary and sustainable extension building within the immediate context of the listed building and the wider parkland setting.

The new building has been designed to exploit the ranging topography of the site, sitting low in the landscape and sited behind the main house, minimising visual impact on the key views of the site and the wider World Heritage City. The new building is fully clad in natural slate - part of a materials pallet chosen carefully for this landscaped site.

The project provides an extraordinary place of learning for 4 to 11 year olds, with exciting specialist teaching spaces, multi-purpose hall and associated support spaces across the new and existing buildings. These facilities are set within a safe, ecologically diverse site offering wonderful opportunities to the children for outdoor learning.