Year 8 students recently toured the new boarding house, Aisher House, which will be their home from the next academic year. They were able to see how much had been achieved to date and comment on the proposed colour schemes.
The concept for the new 60-bed boarding house is to create a house without corridors, with rooms grouped around landings as social spaces; which creates a sense of a home rather than that of a hotel.
The new Aisher House is planned as three linked two-storey pavilions, each about the same dimensions as the Park Grange boarding house. The three pavilions form an L-shape enclosing the southwest corner of the Park Grange lawn, retaining as much open space as possible and aims to sit comfortably beside it.
The handmade brickwork at ground-floor level matches the stone tones of Park Grange and a buff-coloured tile hanging on the upper storey provides a textured and animated surface. The roof is of natural zinc, and the new boarding house is a low-energy building, designed to BREEAM excellent standard.
