Founded in 1896, Wycombe Abbey School is an independent boarding school for girls, with capacity for approximately 560 girls between the ages of 11 and 18. Academically, and in terms of the all-round education it offers, it is one of the top schools in the United Kingdom.
The school required new on-site staff accommodation, to help provide the highest standards of pastoral care essential in a boarding school. This has the additional environmental benefit of staff living on the estate and therefore not having to commute to work, thus reducing local traffic congestion and their carbon footprint. Furthermore, given the high cost of local housing, provision of good quality residential accommodation is important in the recruitment and retention of staff.
The grounds of the school are covered by planning designations that seek to protect the landscape, character and setting of the site: it is on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, within a Conservation Area, and there are also a number of listed buildings within the estate. LUC had previously prepared the Conservation management Plan for the entire school estate, and this provided the justification for the location of the new houses.
LUC led pre-application discussions with the local planning authority and maintained good contact with the case officer throughout the project. We also worked closely with the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust. We managed the submission of the successful planning application, including agreeing a schedule of documents to be submitted, preparing Planning and Design & Access Statements, working closely with the architects, Morse Webb Solway Brown, and checking all plans and drawings prior to submission. We also managed negotiations for the S106 Agreement for developer contributions, a policy requirement for all residential developments in Wycombe District.
Planning permission for five houses was secured in 2009. LUC then worked with the project architects to discharge all the planning conditions and also acted as the project landscape architect. The houses were occupied in the summer of 2011.
We are pleased to have secured a positive outcome for the school. David Curtis-Donnelly, Estates Bursar said, ‘Thank you to you and your team for supporting us with this project…All have done an excellent job’.
