As the first of nine new buildings proposed on our masterplan for Brighton College Independent School, the Skidelsky building provides new classrooms, a laboratory and common rooms. The new building, won in competition, replaced an existing building on the tight site and provides three times the floor area of the previous building. The school has developed as a series of houses built in different periods and the Skidelsky building draws reference from the characteristics of these houses (pitched roof, chimney) to allow the gradual intensification of the school to remain in context. The building is made from dark, almost black, bricks in reference to the black flint of the surrounding buildings and is naturally ventilated through large Douglas Fir hinged panelling which characterise the facade. These panels, in conjunction with the chimney on the southern facade, provide light and air and provide balconies on summer days. Large fixed windows take advantage of the views to the school grounds beyond