St Mark’s School under construction

Date posted: March 9, 2021

Construction is underway on Southampton’s first all through school for 1346 pupils aged 3-16. The project forms part of Southampton City Council’s drive to meet the need of its growing population by creating a further 1,500 new secondary spaces in the central region on the city by 2023. Offering young people in Southampton “fantastic facilities and an educational environment in which they can thrive.”

The scheme will replace an existing outdated Victorian primary school. Early in the project, the designers worked with the client team and the local community to establish the project requirements and aspirations. Particular focus was placed on understanding the nature of an all-through school; to what extent the different ages should be integrated or kept separate. ArchitecturePLB’s design will create distinct primary and secondary wings that retain their own identity but which share key facilities including dining, the library and learning support.

Although the project is entirely new build, the design team wanted to acknowledge the site’s Victorian history and have made contemporary references to the existing buildings, including stone framed windows and string courses. The new primary school hall with its pitched roof and arched window has been designed to evoke a memory of the former school and will incorporate architectural details salvaged from the existing buildings.

ArchitecturePLB was initially appointed by Faithful + Gould under the Pagabo Professional Services framework before being novated to Design and Build contractor, Morgan Sindall. The project is due to complete in late 2022.