Magdalen College School

Magdalen College School approached Pinnacle Furniture as the FF&E consultant to design and furnish their newly built Sixth Form centre. The project was competitively tendered to 5 companies with Pinnacle being successfully appointed as the chosen supplier for the project.

Project value	£140,000
Areas Worked In	7
Square feet of floor area	17,910
College Founded	1480

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The Brief

The college school, nestled in the heart of Oxford, required Pinnacle to transform several spaces which included a large social space, a café and some study rooms. The brief varied slightly for each area, however the overarching requirement was to include the colours of the college’s crest in the design scheme. The building interior was dominated by natural oak and painted concrete – with the furniture was required to bring life and interest into the rooms.

The social space had to accommodate dining, socialising and studying with a strong requirement not to look like an ‘airport lounge’. The study rooms needed to promote alternative studying methods and to be flexible in its use. The café was a front of house area that they intended to be used by parents, visitors and students. The café had to therefore be a versatile space to allow for multiple visitors whilst remaining robust for students – and this had to be reflected in the furniture used.

What we did

Following the proposal, the project was competitively tendered to five companies with Pinnacle being successful and appointed as the chosen supplier for the project. We specified and designed the loose furniture in conjunction with the project architect and school leadership team. The design of the building provided some obstacles to the project – the requirement for integrated power solutions in the social area meant that our design was limited over the amount of floor boxes in a single line.

We created workable solutions for each area using a variety of furniture and fittings including Infinity office desks, ErgoFlex chairs and a bespoke veneer conference table. Flexible soft seating from our Vieni and Occo ranges were supplied, along with our Sculpt range. Sculpt screens and seating can be configured in a variety of different ways to provide study seating and workspaces for a number of applications. The colour palette from the crest can be seen running throughout each area creating design symmetry. We hope the Sixth Form Centre continues to inspire students and visitors for years to come.

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