Work is underway on a brand new, innovative sports hall at Bradford Grammar School that has been specifically designed to be aesthetically appealing externally and will be clad in modern timber and steel, as part of a £4million investment in the school’s sports provision.
Leeds-based Adept Civil and Structural Consulting Engineers is providing engineering services on the eight metre high building, which will be big enough to accommodate five tennis courts or four netball courts and will provide year-round, all-weather use throughout the day and into the evening. SDA Architects has provided architectural services and the building is being built by Bradford-based Bermar Building.
The programme of works will also see eight outdoor cricket lanes installed with various artificial surfaces to fine tune both bowling and batting techniques, one and a half new hockey Astroturf pitches created, and two new outdoor netball or tennis courts. In addition, the school’s existing sports hall will be reconfigured and its changing facilities will be upgraded.
Matthew Ramsden, a director at Adept, said: “A key feature of Bradford Grammar School’s new sports hall was that it had to be distinct and striking yet also functional. This meant that simply building a large warehouse wasn’t an option. The result is a large structure, with the economics and scale of a warehouse, but with the aesthetics of a modern, contemporary and inviting building.
“There’s no doubt this building has the potential to be one of the best facilities of its kind and will elevate Bradford Grammar to the top of the league in terms of its sports provision in the region.”
Dr Simon Hinchliffe, Headmaster at Bradford Grammar School, said: “This is an exciting time in the history of our school. Sport is central to the offering at Bradford Grammar School and our new redevelopment will provide the perfect environment for our enhanced sports curriculum, which caters for all our young people.
“We’ve been successful in recruiting a number of staff to our enlarged sports department with specialist expertise in their fields to help deliver the school’s sporting vision. This investment will cement Bradford Grammar School’s reputation as the Sunday Times Leading Northern Independent School of the Year 2018.”
Adept is currently working on several other school contracts throughout the region including projects at Hunslet Moor Primary School in Leeds, The Stephen Longfellow Academy in Morley, Wynyard Primary School in Stockton-on-Tees and CAPA college in Wakefield.
Bradford Grammar School currently counts Olympic triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee among its alumni, along with Olympic swimming gold medallist Adrian Moorhouse, and England rugby union player Charlie Hodgson.
