We are delighted to have been shortlisted as a finalist in the Boarding Schools' Association Awards 2023 for the Boarding House Extension or Refurbishment category!
This award acknowledges the work that schools have put in to providing pupils with an exceptional place to live, study and play and the judges were looking closely at the design, sustainability and innovation of the refurbishment of Ruddle House.
You can read our entry below.
BOARDING HOUSE EXTENSION OR REFURBISHMENT AWARD
In September 2022, boarders at Shebbear College returned to a completely newly refurbished co-educational Ruddle Boarding House, much to their amazement and delight! Ruddle, previously the girls’ house, was completely renovated from top to bottom, providing pupils with an exceptional place to live, study and play. The main features include:
- Airy, light entrance hall
- ‘On trend' common room
- Cozy Snug - great for movie nights
- Newly refurbished bedrooms and bathrooms throughout
- Music room
- Quiet room
- Fitness studio
- Neutral colour schemes for co-ed boarding
Project Management
This project was managed by the school’s Maintenance team, who delivered the majority of the work themselves, from initial design to completion in a very short timescale (starting work in January 2022 and opening in September 2022). From the outset, the team had the pupils at the forefront of any decisions, holding focus groups with staff and pupils, who asked for ‘a modern feel with a homely element’ as well as other more specific requests including smaller bedrooms, more communal space in the bathrooms, somewhere to hang towels and toilets separated from shower rooms.
The team achieved these requests, creating a modern feel with innovative lighting (coloured LEDs, tile lights instead of strip lights and pendant ‘coffee shop style’ lights). They kept it homely with carefully chosen soft furnishings, domestic toilet roll holders & soft hand towels instead of commercial dispensers and cushioned carpets. Features such as a large wall clock and a 3-in-1 games table were chosen and toilet cubicles were removed from communal bathrooms. Heated towel rails and sockets were installed in the bathrooms as part of a comfortable, communal space to get ready for the day.
The project was futureproofed with the electrics being rewired throughout and the instalment of high spec features including sockets on beds, LED lights, USB and USC points and improved Wi-Fi. Classy grey blinds replaced curtains throughout the house, and some of the bedrooms even have sofa beds so that a friend can stay!
Other features of the house include an accessibility bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a resin floor ramp to enable easy access to the front door, walls erected in larger bedrooms to split them into smaller rooms, soft-close fittings on every door and refurbished staff accommodation.
Sustainability
As well as meeting the needs of the pupils, the primary goal of the renovation was to make sure that it was as sustainable as possible. With its biomass boiler and solar panels, Shebbear College is already a leading school for decarbonisation so products were carefully chosen for their sustainability, recyclability, environmental impact and carbon footprint, factors which play a vital role in good project management but are often unseen by the end user. Among the features chosen were:
- Individual shower pods https://taplanes.co.uk/about/sustainability/ in bathrooms for energy efficiency, reduced pollution, recyclable materials and reduced cleaning and maintenance
- Carpet underlay made from recycled bottles https://www.texfelt.co.uk/texfelt-environmental-policy/
- Sustainable paints to cut carbon emissions https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/sustainability
- Valchromat desk tops installed in bedrooms - an environmental friendly non-toxic substance made from recycled pine wood and mill waste https://www.valchro.com/environmental.html
- Plumbing fittings and sanitary wear that enable sustainable water use https://www.grohe.co.uk/en_gb/our-service/about-grohe/sustainability/
- Vinyl flooring chosen for its low impact on the environment https://www.karndean.com/en-gb/commercial-flooring/tools-and-resources/specification-tools/environmental-commitment/sustainability
- 450mm deep loft Insulation to avoid heat loss https://www.knaufinsulation.com/sustainability
- Motion-sensor lighting in corridors to conserve energy
- Temperature control on all the bedroom heaters
- Old furniture recycled where possible
