Cardinal Vincent blessed and formally opened the new Sixth Form and Art and Design Building at St Benedict’s School on Thursday 28 January, the Feast Day of St Thomas Aquinas. The building will provide a fitting and lasting memory of Headmaster Chris Cleugh, in whose honour it is named. A gloriously sunny day reflected the joyous mood of the whole occasion.
At the start a Solemn Mass in the Abbey Church was concelebrated by the Cardinal, Abbot Martin Shipperlee and 11 other Benedictine monks. In his homily Cardinal Vincent reminded the congregation that St Thomas was always searching for the truth, asking questions and looking for God in the Beauty (Art) and Purpose (Design) of individual things. He exhorted the St Benedict’s Sixth Form and art students to do the same.
After Mass Cardinal Vincent performed the Blessing Ceremony and unveiled the Commemorative Stone of the new building. He also blessed a newly planted tree in memory of Maria del Pilar Gomez Sanz (1958-2014), parent and member of the Society of Parents and Friends and a great supporter of St Benedict’s School. The official opening concluded with the blessing of the statue of Our Lady ‘Sedes Sapientiae.’
Building work on the project began in August 2014 and was completed in December 2015. Headmaster Chris Cleugh thanked everyone who had enabled this wonderful day to come to fruition, especially the architects, van Heyningen & Haward and the contractors Jerram Falkus. Above all, he thanked Richard Ferrett, the Estates Director at the school, who oversaw the whole project from start to finish.
The new building will provide first class learning facilities for the Sixth Form and Art and Design departments, with separate entrances for both. The ground floor comprises an open plan Sixth Form social area and also houses the Technology rooms. The Sixth Form study area, the Scriptorium, takes up most of the first floor together with a classroom for KS3/4 Design. Art studios and Sixth Form design classrooms fill the whole of the second floor.
