Plans lodged for replacement Bramhall High School
Contractor Willmott Dixon has applied for permission to construct a 106,000 sq ft education building that will replace the Seal Road school’s current sprawling, RAAC-riddled estate.
All of Bramhall High School’s existing buildings, apart from the more modern maths block, will be demolished once the new-build, three-storey school has been constructed next door.
The project will result in a consolidated, modern school to serve the affluent Stockport suburb that is 51,000 sq ft smaller than the current offer, which is spread across numerous buildings.
Designed by Sheppard Robson, the new facility will be home to the school’s 1,350 pupils and will feature:
- 25 classrooms, including a specialist drama studio, 10 science labs, workshops, computing and ICT classrooms, art & design classrooms
- Five SEN classrooms
- An assembly hall with tiered seating
- Staff, catering and support facilities
- Indoor four-court sports hall, activity room and changing facilities
- Two replacement multi-use games areas (MUGAs)
- Provision of a new all-weather pitch beside the retained hockey pitch to be delivered by Stockport Council
- New staff car park, including dedicated parking for SEMH and accessible parking bays
- 200-capacity covered bike storage facility
- New off-street bus stops and turning area for school services
The project is being backed by the government’s School Rebuilding Programme. Due to the extent of the RAAC discovered in the complex, urgent remediation works have been undertaken.
Life Leisure, which used to operate a community sports centre at the site, recently closed. The proposed new sports facilities will be open to the public as well as pupils.
Paul Williams, headteacher at Bramhall High School, said the project marks a “bold new chapter” for the school.
PlanRed is advising on planning matters. Willmott Dixon is attached to the scheme by way of a pre-construction services agreement.
To learn more, search for reference number DC/098847 on Stockport Council’s planning portal.
Seems odd to be only planning for like for like student numbers when vast amounts of house building is to come forward in nearby Woodford (where secondary school age children would likely migrate toward Bramhall HS)… surely would make sense to future proof capacity in the order of 1,750+ especially given the amount of space available with this particular school estate.
By T.D.Smith
How can 1350 classes of ~30 fit into 25 classrooms. Surely something more like 45 classrooms is needed even for the current student body
By maths teacher
We don’t need to knock down a perfectly adequate school to create chaos on the roads around the area ruining our roads with lorries coming and going only under a liberal council and labour government do we get noncence like this I would love to replace the asbestos roof on my garage but can’t afford it were as council tax money will go towards the building of this school
By Andrew Elliott
@12:19 am By Andrew Elliott – maybe you should re-read the first sentence of this article which suggests this is necessary due to the structural integrity of the concrete used (RAAC) rather than a “nice to have” as you imply
By Anonymous
Great idea Andrew Elliott, let’s save a load of money and sort your roof out instead. It’s absolute woke liberal nonsense to build a new school to improve the lives of local children.
By Mr Smith
@T.D.Smith. I suspect its because the government is funding this from a programme set up to deal with the issue of RAAC rather than to meet future growing needs. I would imagine that the council have been trying to make the case for a larger rebuild to help accomodate a growth in pupil numbers but that’ll have no weight with the DfT at this stage. It’s also notable that birth rates and therefore pupil numbers have been falling, and are expected to continue falling, so the extent of additional capacity required to accomodate new housing may not be as great as any of us might assume. I think I’m right that the recent Woodford appeal which focused in part on meeting education needs didn’t anticipate any need for additional secondary school places to be provided.
@maths teacher. The DfT have standard design guidance which this will have to adhere to if it is to get funding. There are also existing classrooms in the maths block which is being retained.
@Andrew Elliot. Yes, that’s a good call, lets not rebuild a school that would be unsafe if it wasn’t for temporary safety measures, to the benefit of thousands of pupils present and future, and replace your garage roof instead. In any case, I don’t think any of your council tax is being spent here – its central government money.
By John P. Markham