Planning and listed building consent has been granted for a comprehensive refurbishment of Smithdon High School in Norfolk – ensuring that the building designed by Alison and Peter Smithson can continue in use as a school for decades to come.
The project team, led by main contractor Bowmer + Kirkland, also includes architects Jestico + Whiles, conservation architects Purcell, engineers Arup, planning consultants DPP, and ongoing involvement from the school itself.
The project will conserve and repair the original buildings – initially known as Hunstanton School – to improve their usability and accessibility as learning environments, while also reducing energy use and running costs. When complete, the refurbishment project will resolve a series of fabric problems, allowing it to be used fully as the Smithsons had originally intended, and better able to serve future generations of students in Hunstanton and the surrounding area.
Due to its Grade II* listed status, the project team has worked closely with West Norfolk Borough Council as the planning authority, as well as Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society, which both supported the application.
The project is being funded by the Department for Education School Rebuilding Programme which, backed by £20bn investment through to 2035, will rebuild over 750 schools. This builds on further investment, which will reach £3bn a year for capital maintenance and improvement of the school and college estate by 2035.
Work to the existing building is due to commence in 2026, and it is expected that the refurbished Smithdon High School will welcome students and staff once again in 2028. In the meantime, students and staff will be accommodated in a series of temporary new classrooms within the school’s extensive grounds.
Terry Hill, senior design manager at Bowmer + Kirkland, said: ‘It is an ambitious and hugely exciting project, and will give a new lease of life to one of the UK’s most important post-war buildings.
‘Generations of Hunstanton students have passed through Smithdon High School, and we want to ensure it can be even better for generations to come. The refurbishment focuses on making better use of the whole building, and aims to create a comfortable, flexible and inspirational learning environment for students and staff.’
Ben Marston, director at Jestico + Whiles, said: ‘This unique project aims to save this highly significant building before it is too late. Peter Smithson described the building as having two lives: one an “everyday life of teaching, children, noise, furniture, and chalk dust”. And another of “pure space”. By renewing, restoring and preserving the latter, we can safeguard the former for future generations.’
Jon Wright, 20th century heritage consultant at Purcell, said: ‘Smithdon High School is one of the most significant works of modern heritage in the world, yet at its heart, it remains a working school that has served its community for over 70 years. This project embraces the challenge of reconciling its identity as both an architectural icon and a place of learning by finding a sustainable path between the two.
‘By combining a deep understanding of the building’s spatial and visual language with careful attention to materials and performance, the team has celebrated the Smithsons’ legacy while addressing its deficiencies. A defining work of the modern movement is now a landmark in 21st-century conservation – paving the way for bold, thoughtful approaches to safeguarding the architecture of our recent past.’
