REFURB CASE STUDIES Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Chesham Road            CRTC Member: Marley-Eternit Clay Tiles Used: Heather Mixture colour from Marley-Eternit's single camber Hawkins range

When Dr Challoner’s Grammar School celebrates its 100th anniversary at its new home this year it will be with a new roof for the original school building that takes up a fifth of the site.

The 45° pitch roof of the old (study and lecture) hall and what is now the main admin block, that was built shortly after the school moved from Old Amersham to Chesham Road in 1903, had developed leaks initiated by rotting battens. When the local education authority decided a re-roof could wait no longer, the property management department of Buckinghamshire County Council resolved to re-roof with tiles to match those on a library and classroom block built in the early 1990s.

Originally specified by architects at the Buckinghamshire-based Babtie Group, the tiles were a Heather Mixture colour from Marley-Eternit's single camber Hawkins range whose origins go back even further than Dr Challoner’s new site – 150 years.

The school took advantage of the re-roof by Letchworth Roofing to incorporate some contemporary alterations such as converting the loft area to provide additional IT classrooms and stairwells. Simon Filsell, Dr Challoner’s business manager, said: “The original school buildings are very picturesque and the new tiles certainly help to preserve that.”