The Bluecoat

The old foundlings school, a Georgian Grade I Listed building has been renovated and extended to provide artist studios, exhibition spaces and an auditorium for 200 people. A complicated load-bearing structure has been selected for the new construction. Brick walls are stack bonded with units aligned in a single direction. Computerised design drawings allocated every brick a location so that reinforced concrete floor plates and lintels were co-ordinated into the design without any cut bricks. Pre-stessed brickwork was used to attenuate the main gallery piers, support balustrades and parapet walls. The steel trussed roof structure was kept straightforward with clear joints consistently detailed.