KI chairs for new Queen Elizabeth Music School
King’s Bruton, an historic co-educational secondary school in Somerset, England has marked its quincentenary with the opening of a state-of-the-art music school, of which BCFA member KI was involved in.
Officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 28 March 2019, the new building is located at the very heart of the Bruton Conservation Area, replacing the school’s derelict swimming pool. Designed by Levitt Bernstein architects, with interiors designed by Morgan Stewart Interiors, it took around 18 months to build and has rejuvenated this previously underutilised part of the school’s estate.
Situated immediately adjacent to the River Brue, the new building has been designed to be sympathetic to the surrounding 17th Century buildings and stone walls, with its two-storey entrance tower and stone-paved courtyard. Inside, there are performance, recital, teaching and recording spaces.
“Music at King’s is arguably as strong as it’s ever been, but this was despite our facilities and not because of them. This new music school provides state-of-the-art amenities for both our students and the wider community.” – Ian Wilmshurst, headmaster, King’s Bruton
A member of the prestigious HMC association of leading independent schools, King’s Bruton sought to build a legacy with this iconic new music facility to build on the already busy programme of over 50 concerts a year. Providing a vast array of opportunities for students to develop their music skills, the school will now be able to boost its music programme further still.
Balancing the old with the new, functionality with beauty, the new facilities have been enhanced with the addition of KI’s Intellect Wave music chair. The Intellect Wave music chair was specified with ‘Wet Sand’ polypropylene seat shells and matching powder-coated steel legs which make a striking statement against the warm, wooden interiors.
“We have specified KI products for many of our customers over many years. They are a world-leader in creating seating designed specifically for students, and the Intellect Wave music chair is a great example of this. It was an obvious choice for the new music school. It is elegant and cleverly designed to be comfortable and incredibly durable.” – Andrew Morgan, founder, Morgan Stewart Interiors.
This chair is a unique variant of the elegant and popular Intellect Wave family, featuring a 5° forward tilted seat back and an elevated seat height to promote a more upright posture and enhanced breathing. This can make a notable difference in comfort and performance whilst playing a musical instrument.
Also selected were over 200 of KI’s Maestro high-density stacking chairs, specified with ‘Nordic’ (navy blue) polypropylene seat and backrest and chrome sled bases. Adding a huge amount of flexibility to the versatile spaces, these chairs are stackable to 38 chairs on a transport dolly.
“Being available in so many seat shell and metal finishes, it gave us even more flexibility to create the right aesthetic for the space. This is an important factor especially for education environments, where student comfort has a huge impact on learning and performance.” – Andrew Morgan, founder, Morgan Stewart Interiors.
Comfortable and robust for student or audience use, they are quick and easy to move around and link together into rows. This allow rooms to be transformed into recital spaces, but neatly stack away when not required.
Louis Tuson, Kings Bruton School Bursar added:
“When we approached Andrew at Morgan Stewart, we asked for furniture that would look smart, but be flexible enough to allow us to completely rearrange the space very quickly – Andrew did a really good job, providing modern furniture that complements the building while offering that flexibility. The staff responsible for arranging the space have commented on how easy it is to move furniture now, the stacking system is excellent. What is even more impressive is that after several terms of daily use, the furniture still looks as good as the day it was delivered.”
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