Designing a specialist school where every learner can thrive.
Cambourne Village College was the first entirely new secondary school to be built in Cambridgeshire in nearly 20 years. It was developed to support the rapidly growing new settlement of Cambourne, providing high quality education close to home.
Frank Shaw provided full architectural and lead consultant services for the project, working with Cambridgeshire County Council to deliver a robust, flexible and future focused campus. From the outset, the site was master-planned to support long term growth, including a future primary school and the phased expansion of the secondary provision.
As the population of the new town continued to increase, the college was delivered in three major construction phases over approximately 15 years. Each phase provided additional teaching, specialist, and community facilities, ensuring the school could evolve in step with Cambourne’s rapid expansion while maintaining a cohesive architectural identity and a consistently high standard of educational space.
Phase 1 – Establishing the campus.
Phase 1 delivered a new 750 place secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 on a greenfield site to the west of Cambourne. It established the town’s educational infrastructure and set out a masterplan allowing future expansion, including provision for a primary school. Teaching wings overlook the southern farmland, creating sheltered courtyards that serve as year group social and locker areas. These spaces are protected by canopies and support informal interaction. Larger halls are positioned along the northern façade, allowing drama and performance spaces to operate independently and enabling secure community use without opening the whole school. A standalone music block is acoustically separated but remains visually connected to the campus. Its contrasting cladding highlights recital spaces and gives the building a distinct identity for out of hours activities. Construction combined traditional and modular methods, and works were carefully managed to safely re home wildlife found on site.
Phase 2 – Responding to rapid growth.
In response to rapid population growth, Phase 2 expanded the college from five to nine forms of entry. Designed and delivered seamlessly in line with the original masterplan, the expansion included additional science, design and technology and general teaching classrooms, alongside external changing facilities, a new assembly hall and a new music block. Phased internal remodelling was also undertaken to expand specialist teaching areas while minimising disruption to the live school environment. A further standalone building was added to provide dedicated post-16 accommodation, strengthening progression opportunities for students.
Phase 3 – Completing the vision.
The most recent phase has almost doubled the size of the campus, responding to increased demand generated by the Cambourne West housing development. Delivered by Kier Construction Eastern, this phase marked a major milestone for the community. As part of the expansion, Cambourne now benefits from its first dedicated post-16 college, housed within a new standalone building. This provides high-quality sixth form accommodation while remaining fully connected to the wider campus. Across all phases, the design has remained consistent with the school’s original ethos – creating an inspirational learning environment within a sustainable, robust building that can adapt to changing educational needs over time.
