Malvern College set to upgrade reception area

A new reception desk will be installed in the centre of the school’s entrance hall and the current Reception Room will become a parents’ meeting room.

Two sets of secure glass doors will be installed, as well as a glass screen bearing the Malvern College logo.

DOORS: The scheme will add extra security to the reception area (Image: Malvern College)

Malvern Hills District Council planning officers said the doors will “allow for a more secure environment for the school without causing damage visually or physically”.

A porter’s corner desk, thought to have been installed during a refurbishment in the 1950s, will make way for the new reception desk.

“This would leave the current Reception Room to be cleared of the office furniture to allow its use as a Parents’ Meeting Room,” officers said in their decision report.

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“This would benefit the space and would enable the historic significance to be better appreciated.

“There will be new built-in bookcases in the repurposed porter’s room to match the rest of the décor in the room.

“It is not considered that any of these changes will cause harm to the significance of the designated heritage asset.”

The school is a Grade II* listed building and dates from the mid-Victorian period, built in a grand neo-gothic style.

There are several other listed buildings on the site including the chapel, schoolhouse, and the school gates, as well as the war memorial opposite the entrance of the main school building.

Plans to turn Malvern College’s War Memorial Library into a Sixth Form Centre have been approved by the council.

Officers felt the works would benefit the building as they would involve the removal of a number of “modern insertions” while “respecting the age and character” of the library.

“This will allow for it to remain as a functional school building as originally intended,” they said.