We were delighted to see Queen Margaret College’s new boarding hostel, Queen Margaret House, open in January this year.
A growing demand for boarding facilities for international and out of town students, lead Queen Margaret College to approach McKenzie Higham Architects to design a new boarding hostel for the school. It needed to provide quality accommodation, work within the constraints of the site, and make a striking contemporary addition to the campus. We have an established working relationship with the college, having designed its new Pre-school in 2016, so have a thorough understanding of their culture and requirements, as well as of the site.
The new 3 storey hostel provides comfortable individual rooms for 40 senior students, a self-contained apartment for the hostel manager, and bright spacious shared spaces including the ground floor dining room and students’ lounge. It has an impressive commercial kitchen and even has a Japanese style bathroom. Its location on the site forms a new shared courtyard at the heart of the school. This incorporates a redeveloped playground and helps to create a sense of connection between students of different age groups within the school.
The college, and most importantly the boarders, are loving their new facility. The final stages of the landscaping are currently being completed, we look forward to sharing more on the hostel once this final component is in place.
