The brief was to provide 4000m2 in a combination of general teaching accommodation and specialist facilities including laboratories, drama spaces, library and a sixth form centre. The project developed following amalgamation of two existing secondary schools on to one site. The aim of the school and Council was to create a feeling of a 'new' school, and to enhance the existing areas by improved circulation routes. The school shares its site with Shaw House, a 16th Century Grade 1 listed manor. It is prominently positioned with views of the manor roofline, the adjacent church spire and mature trees. Suitable areas of the site for development were limited and the design process involved close liaison with English Heritage and the Local Planning Authority to ensure that key design objectives were achieved. The project was to be completed while the school remained in occupation and within a tight overall budget. The English and Humanities block has been designed to form the new face of the school. It comprises the new administration facilities and two floors of general teaching classrooms. Considerable care has been taken in locating the accommodation on site to avoid affecting the yew trees that historically encircled the site. At ground level, below the overhanging terned stainless steel roof, a covered way forms the circulation between classes articulated with masonry piers which are expressed as a plane of brickwork cut back revealing the 'interior' of the building. The entrance is linked to the existing school, new Library and Sixth Form rotunda with a raised walkway. The levels mean the link from the first floor of English and Humanities block connects to the ground floor of the existing building. It enables the connection to be made over the existing bank of historic yew trees without impacting on the ground and disturbing the trees. The Library and Sixth Form block consists of a glazed axis, focused on the church spire, enclosed by two brick clad semicircular forms. The drum forms counterpoise the rectilinear entrance block and terminates the space between the historic bank of yew trees and the proposed Administration/English and Humanities block while creating a smaller south facing space which can be occupied by pupils during the summer. It also creates a third form on the axis of the two significant lime trees. Internally, the central axis is defined by a staircase and galleries in a double height space allowing views of the entire library and daylight to flood the interior of the building. The Dell is a small, man-made quarry, the ground level at the base of this is four metres below adjacent ground levels. It is lined with a dense mix of deciduous trees, which make it transparent in winter and shaded in summer. The project typifies our sensitive approach to the development of difficult and constrained sites whilst meeting the requirements of a demanding brief and maximizing site potential.