The Mitchell Building at Skinners’ School, Kent Architecture, Best New Southern English Property Project
The Mitchell Building at Skinners’ School, Kent, UK
4 May 2022
Seven projects have been awarded Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South East Awards.
The Mitchell Building at Skinners’ School, Kent, south east England, UK
Design: Bell Phillips Architects

photo : Kilian O’ Sullivan
The Mitchell Building at Skinners’ School, Kent, England
Jury Report
Love it or hate it, the ?Gothic Revival? of the 19th century has left an architectural legacy in this country that is particularly marked in educational buildings. The Skinners? School is such a place, its core buildings forming a muscular and evocative red-brick backdrop to the main playground. How to respond to such a setting" Bell Phillips Architects have chosen to create a contemporary building that is successful in both speaking to the forms and materials of the Victorian buildings whilst also mediating between the wider town and the interior life of the school. It does this in a quietly urbane manner ? the building is a simple L-shape in plan, with a tall pointed gable at each end of the ?L?: one gable faces the town, the other overlooks the playground.

photo : Kilian O’ Sullivan
The building?s simple geometric forms are softened by the use of a gentle red brick, and enlivened by the use of a sawtooth brick motif that gives a ?corrugated? character to the walls, cr...