Summer Fields School, Oxford

Paul Basham Associates were instructed by Summer Fields School to assist with the highways work required at the prestigious prep school for the change of use from an old boarding quarters to 4 new classrooms, a library, and indoor and outdoor play spaces.

The classrooms will be used to teach boys aged four to eight as part of a ‘pre-prep’ school. With our previous Oxford office in Summertown located a short walk up the road from the school, we were ideally placed to assist on this scheme and use our local knowledge to good effect, with planning permission granted in July 2017.

The Brief

Paul Basham Associates were approached by Oxford Architects to assist with the highways works required to convert an old boarding quarters in Newton Lodge into 4 new classrooms that would form a new Pre-Prep school on the existing grounds. With space constrained on site for parking spaces and a new access arrangement being formed onto Mayfield Road, highways was a vital aspect of this application.

Our Approach

Our initial approach was to support the proposals with a Transport Statement, which included an assessment of the existing conditions at the school and surrounding area, as well as an assessment of the proposals and the potential impact of the development. Our report also included a tracking and visibility exercise that demonstrated the acceptability of the new parking court, parking spaces and the new in/out drop off access on Mayfield Road.

The Highway Authority requested further information be provided in relation to pedestrian visibility splays, vehicle movements and junction modelling at the Mayfield Road/Banbury Road junction. Our team produced a Technical Note in response to the comments, which included updated tracking, pedestrian visibility splays and a detailed traffic impact argument which succeeded in demonstrating that the development would have minimal impact on the surrounding area.

The Travel Plan was included as a planning condition, and allowed us to promote sustainable forms of transport, including walking, cycling and public transport and therefore encourage more students and staff to travel to school this way. In addition to this, we also provided future Travel Plan targets aiming to reduce the percentage of pupils, parents and staff that currently drive to school. 

The Result

As a result of the project team’s hard work, the scheme was granted planning permission and opened its doors to pupils in 2018.