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About the Client

Southend High School for Girls is a dynamic school for young girls from Year 7 to Year 13. Their sixth form offers their students an A-Level education in a school environment for them to develop to their full potential.

School Interior Design Brief

Southend High School for Girls contacted Rap Interiors to design a coffee shop for their sixth form students. The school wanted the interior design in this particular area to feel sophisticated for the older students and not just like a converted school classroom refurbishment.

The students had created a school interiors mood board themselves enabling our designers to work collaboratively with them and to work from as inspiration.

Our Solution

In order to create a more mature interior design for the sixth form students, our design team incorporated a dark colour scheme. This incorporated a navy blue camouflage carpet tile with contrasting herringbone wood flooring for a warm, homely feel.

To create different seating zones our design team chose banquet style seating, bar stools and high level poseur social benches which is exactly the feel the school wanted.

The Result

A modern school coffee shop space was designed with sophisticated features for the older sixth form students to feel separated from their younger peers.

This schools’ refurbishment project has created an attractive area for the students to use as a breakout space, and for private learning if they wish, away from a learning classroom environment.

Key Features

Banquet seating with square coffee shop table and colourful mix match chairs with a dark colour interior design colour scheme Banquet seating with square coffee shop table and colourful mix match chairs with a dark colour interior design colour scheme

Dark Colour Scheme

The walls of the room were painted in a dark navy blue along with a matching carpet tile that is modern and adds pattern to the interior design.

The abundance of natural light through the large windows ensures the space isn’t overpowered with the dark colour scheme.

Funky school flooring options with a blue camouflage carpet and herringbone wood LVT with breakout furniture Funky school flooring options with a blue camouflage carpet and herringbone wood LVT with breakout furniture

Funky Flooring

A dark and fluid carpet in this communal space was a purposeful school design solution for a high traffic area where drinks and food would be consumed.

The herringbone wood effect vinyl flooring creates a contrast next to this patterned carpet as a more luxurious and home-like feel, appropriate for the older students.

A modern school interior design for a sixth form canteen area with a dark colour scheme and contrasting flooring. A modern school interior design for a sixth form canteen area with a dark colour scheme and contrasting flooring.

Versatile Seating Options

Dissimilar to a classroom, there is a variety of seating options available for the students to use in this informal breakout space.

The light grey banquet seating created a large area for social space with a wipeable vinyl fabric finish for durability purposes.

To portray a coffee shop design influence in this sixth form canteen, the high poseur table and bright orange stools added a pop of colour to the dark colour scheme.

A word with Angela Clarke, Director of Finance and Business at Southend High School For Girls

What were your expectations for the coffee shop?

“It was a classroom before and the space is next to a common room. We wanted to use the space for the sixth form students to have somewhere more relaxed and somewhere to go without their younger peers so it is more special.”

What kind of effect has the space had on the students?

“The headteacher and head of sixth form are happy with it and we’ve had some nice comments.”

What made you choose Rap over anyone else?

“The headteacher came across the Haringey Learning Centre project and it was what we were looking for with the finish, zones and it is suitable for sixth form students.”

Would you recommend Rap to other schools?

“Yes, we are having Rap Interiors look at another area of the school, a school library design and refurbishment project.”