Willmott Dixon Secures Planning Approval for £50m Stockport School Rebuild

Willmott Dixon has secured planning approval for a near £50 million rebuild of Bramhall High School in Stockport, replacing a campus affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete problems.

Work on the new three-storey school is expected to start in January 2027. The replacement building will rise on the existing 36-acre site off Seal Road while the current school remains in use.

Architect Sheppard Robson designed the new facility to accommodate 1,350 pupils. Construction will proceed alongside the existing campus before most of the current buildings are demolished, though the newer maths block will be retained as part of the consolidated site.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, commonly known as RAAC, is a lightweight construction material widely used in UK public buildings between the 1950s and 1990s. It has since been found prone to structural failure over time, prompting inspections and remediation across schools, hospitals and other public buildings nationwide.

The consolidated Bramhall High School will include 25 general classrooms alongside 10 science laboratories. Specialist teaching areas are planned for drama, computing, ICT and art and design.

The design also incorporates five classrooms for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. An assembly hall with tiered seating, dining space and a library are included in the plans, alongside staff and support facilities.

Sports provisions will include a four-court indoor sports hall, an activity studio and changing rooms. Outdoor facilities are planned to include two replacement multi-use games areas and a new 3G artificial pitch, positioned alongside the school's retained hockey pitch.

The Bramhall High School scheme adds to a broader wave of RAAC-driven school rebuilding projects across England in recent years, as local authorities and the Department for Education work through a backlog of affected buildings identified through structural surveys.

Willmott Dixon has taken on several major education contracts across the UK in recent months, reflecting continued investment in school infrastructure renewal tied to both RAAC remediation and wider capacity expansion programmes.

Stockport joins a growing list of local authorities managing phased school rebuilds, where construction work must proceed around continuing lessons to avoid disrupting pupils during the transition between old and new facilities.

The project represents a significant capital investment for the borough, reflecting the scale of remediation costs associated with RAAC-affected public buildings across the education sector.