New formal entrance for Merchant Taylors’ School
The undercroft of the Grade II listed Great Hall has undergone substantial but highly sensitive refurbishment and alteration. Merchant Taylors’ School’s brief was for the formation of a new focus for the school campus. This involved a concourse reception area, meeting room, career office and adjacent 6th form common room facilities, all within the existing fabric of the school. Acanthus Clews’ solution hinged on glazing the previously external cloisters to incorporate them as part of the internal entrance space. To meet a very tight schedule, architects Heather Clews and Emma Clark adopted a two stage tender procedure and worked closely with the contractors and a full team of professional consultants to resolve issues and to confirm a contract price before starting work on site. The work involved extensive internal demolition to reveal the original concrete columns, and the insertion of new glass and oak partitions between the columns. The existing floor was excavated to leave a metre deep void below the finished floor level in order to house all services while a new suspended ceiling system was also introduced. 
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