Rugby is one of the UK’s leading co-educational boarding schools with a long tradition of innovation. The school recognised that it needed to repurpose its library to respond and adapt to the challenges of the transformation of the education and work environment, while introducing enhanced principles of wellbeing and sustainability.

The library is housed on two levels within the historic 1878Temple Reading Room designed by William Butterfield. Our scheme reconnects the library to adjacent uses and to the wider school estate. It creates a wide variety of study spaces and settings, with a new mezzanine floor to provide maximum flexibility.  Functional improvements make the building fully accessible and overcome several environmental challenges.

A new wing to the rear elevation increases space and connects to an unused courtyard, enhancing the wellbeing of students and staff with easy access to outdoor spaces. The new space offers flexibility to hold educational and social events, ranging from full class sessions and small group areas to quiet individual workspaces.

The architectural solution responded positively to the site’s constraints and opportunities, resulting in a simple built form and appearance that respects the inherent characteristics of the Temple Reading Room and the wider Rugby School Conservation Area.