Midlands & East Anglia

Cheltenham Ladies’ Boarding House

Cheltenham Ladies College

The construction of a brand new, state of the art boarding house at Cheltenham Ladies’ College is progressing well.

Construction of the structure began in March 2013 and the venue should be fully completed in time for the new school year in September 2014.

Premier Construction caught up with Ian Minchella, Estates Manager with Cheltenham Ladies’ College, to find out more about the project. He said:

“We carried out an audit of our boarding accommodation six years ago and visited our competitor’s schools. From this audit we decided to increase our space standards for the girls across the accommodation we have here. In order for us to do that we reduced the bed numbers in each boarding house and with the surplus decided we would build a new boarding house on site.

“We also wanted to refurbish all of the other houses on campus and so decided we would decant each of our junior boarding houses into the new boarding house year by year, for six years, so at the end of six years all the facilities would be fully improved.”

Ian said it was important to Cheltenham Ladies College to find a relevant site near the campus as currently all the boarding houses are within 15 minutes walk from the main academic site. The team found a disused HMRC tax office five minutes away from campus which was for sale; shortly after this discovery the College bought the piece of land and set about demolishing the structure.

Kier Construction won the scheme’s design and build contract and Quattro Architects acted as lead designers. Ian said that a full demolition survey was undertaken prior to the works beginning in order to avoid any asbestos-related problems.

Ian added:

“The site is quite confined and is located in a residential area close to neighbouring houses. Potentially there was a conflict issue, but we have kept the neighbours updated throughout by sending them newsletters and inviting them to site to view the progression.

Cheltenham Ladies College

“They seem grateful that the site has been developed from a 1960’s, concrete monstrosity to an attractive building.”

Ian said it was a pleasure to be involved in this project:

“This is the first new boarding house built on site for over thirty years, so to have the opportunity to be involved is quite an achievement.

“The boarding house under construction is a flagship building which will set the standard for the refurbishment works we undertake in all the other boarding accommodation. So we will try and specify the building, and its fixtures and fittings to fit the rest of the boarding accommodation. Overall it has been a very successful project, we are on budget and upon completion it will be a positive addition to the college’s estate.”

About the author

Roma Publications