St Margaret’s is one of the oldest all-girls’ independent schools in the UK. Founded in the 18th century, the school moved to the 74 acre Bushey site in 1896. The school was the last work of the eminent Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse, an architect that ranged across various styles in his career, but is perhaps best remembered for the Victorian Gothic Revival as seen in his Manchester Town Hall of 1877 and the Natural History Museum in London of 1880.
St. Margaret's Music School
Behind the chapel lies the existing music school block built around 1920 and gym built around 1940. Neither building reflects the Waterhouse architecture, being built in part timber frame with some brick piers and clad in asbestos boarding painted white.
Our proposal for the new Music School building roughly adopts the siting of the former block with a two-storey building that emulates the form of the projecting gable of the southern wing of the school, but in a simpler design that avoids competing with the setting. It creates a wonderful courtyard bounded by the chapel, the single-storey curved link and the end gable of the main school. This space will be an important asset for the school and allow for outdoor performances.
| Client | St Margaret's School |
| Status | In planning |
| Planning consultant | DLA Town Planning |
| Heritage consultant | DLA Town Planning |
| Structural engineer | Solid Structures Ltd |
| Landscape architect | BD Landscape Architects |
| Ecology | RSK ADAS Ltd |
| Highways consultant | Ardent Consulting Engineers |