A £22 MILLION building project that will create a university-standard block for sixth-formers at the La Swap consortium has been unveiled. 

La Swap, the A-level college for 16 to 18-year-old students run by Parliament Hill, William Ellis, Acland Burghley and La Sainte Union, is spread over four sites. The plans would see a new library, seminar rooms, offices and social spaces built on unused tennis courts on the Parliament Hill site in Highgate Road.

The project also includes a new teaching block to replace an ageing wing of Parliament Hill school and minor works to William Ellis. 

William Ellis headmaster Sam White told the New Journal the sixth-form block would be one storey high, set into the ground and would open up views of the Grade-II listed Parliament Hill school façade, which is currently obscured by run-down wooden fencing.

He said: “This new block will really help the transition between school, sixth form and university. It will bring our sixth-form services together under one roof, includes space for independent and individual work, and has a university-grade library for students to use.”

Mr Ellis added that the new designs had been changed after discussions with neighbours. 

“We have changed the plans after listening to people in our neighbourhood,” he said. “The sixth-form block will be set beneath the ground. In terms of height it is a single storey and it will improve Highgate Road. It will look better – the front of Parliament Hill school is lovely and this will reinstate views of its impressive entrance.”

The scheme has met with some opposition from residents in nearby Lissenden Gardens, while Highgate ward Green councillor Sian Berry believes the older block, facing on to Hampstead Heath, could be stripped back to its original concrete frame, refurbished inside and re-clad outside. 

She said: “Residents in Lissenden Gardens are still concerned about the relocation of the Heath building, both because of light being blocked and the new classrooms being close to their windows. We also have some questions about the sustainability of demolishing a whole building, no matter how green the replacement.”

The latest designs will be discussed at a Development Control Forum at Parliament Hill school on Tuesday evening at 7pm.