Haileybury is a historic campus with some very significant existing buildings. How did you approach commissioning a new building within a campus setting?

We already had a masterplan but Mike and his team had a willingness and ability to challenge previous assumptions. They presented us with an alternative which made a lot more sense, intellectually. The masterplan suggested a standalone two storey science block located to the rear of the existing building. Hopkins turned that on its head with a far more integrated approach, joining the new accommodation with existing science and technology buildings, which made so much more sense.

Hopkins’ designs had an intelligence, a coherence and a logic to them. They brought a lot of experience and context to their planning of the building. Virtually all of their

ideas had an evidence-based approach, referencing other buildings or projects they've worked on to exemplify those ideas.

They also understood the architectural heritage of the school, and the way that successive architects had borrowed from each other over time in different ways. They understood very well how the buildings needed to relate to each other and included a number of features which reference both Baker and Wilkins before him. When I stood in the newly completed building last November, it occurred to me that what they had actually done was complete Baker’s original intent from 1931/32. In the years since then, the school had built piecemeal as demand for lab space grew, and that architectural thread had been lost - that idea that new buildings should continue to feed intellectually and architecturally from what had gone before. Hopkins restored coherence and a sense of completeness to the campus masterplan. There's no sense that we've built something ad hoc or intellectually temporary. The original Baker building was built to last and Hopkins have built something new but which can be understood in the context of those other buildings on the site. It is very clever.

How has the new SciTech building impacted the way you can offer science at the school?

The laboratories are beautifully designed in terms of wet/dry provision, the proportions, the quality of finish and furniture and design, which has enhanced the teaching within them. Whilst you have fixed laboratory space, there are more fluid elements of the building design - that fluidity of space enhances the fluidity of learning.

We wanted to accentuate research-based learning, and the concept has flourished way beyond our expectations. There are some deliberately undesignated spaces here which support individual study and research. The children have already inhabited those as their own. We wanted this building to be a living, dynamic building that pupils feel belongs to them. I didn't foresee the levels of pupil ownership and the way they have adapted to the space. That’s been very rewarding. They are clever and motivated, and now they have a resource which facilitates that interest. And it's not just the 18 year olds, it's the 11 year olds as well. They’ve started as they mean to go on!

We recently had an academic fair with 55 children from across the school, displaying and presenting their research projects around the cloister. It was fantastic to see! The new spaces have allowed that to happen, and have encouraged a culture of research-based learning which is now spreading across the school.

Do you think that the building contributes to well-being for pupils?

I am a great believer in the importance of a sense of beauty in children's lives. The SciTech buildings have great sightlines and allow children to look out and see our beautiful campus.

There’s also a strong sense of transparency: you can see into and out of every classroom and every lab. That creates a calm and relaxed environment. It means you are not demanding children’s attention through the creation of an enclosed space. Children don’t like enclosed spaces – it makes them anxious. SciTech is calm and the children are calm. I have worked in six different schools over 37 years and I know these things make a difference.

Mike and his team were very interested in our discussions about child psychology, and how that might inform their design, and the way they executed that has been fantastic.

How is the building facilitating connection to the wider community

We have been the single sponsor of Haileybury Turnford Academy since 2015 and they are very much part of our school. We are very closely linked in many ways and their children come here for different studies and activities. We are considering how they might best access and use the new SciTech building, and Stan-X research facilities.

There are a number of engineering, science tech and research organisations on our doorstep. A lot of parents have looked at our facilities and said – this is exactly what we want. They work in those businesses, so they understand the building and what we're trying to do here.

Why do you think the new SciTech buildings have been so successful?

I think quality comes through engagement. When you work with an architectural practice there is a journey to be had. If you agree that journey at the outset, you have to see it through together. The thing that struck me about Hopkins was the consistency of their engagement. The team we engaged with worked with us right through to the end.  I think that is one of the reasons this project has worked and why the buildings have been so successful. Mike and his team were very invested in the project and that shows in the finished quality of the building.

They have provided us with something fantastic and contemporary but which also  embraces the history, heritage and traditions of the school.

Read more about the SciTech project here