William Sapcote & Sons h as been awarded a £4.4 million contract to design and build a fourstorey, boarding house at Stowe School, Buckingham.

The Birmingham-based firm was appointed following a competitive tender process.

Bob Sharp, bursar at Stowe School, said: "We were very clear that we wanted a traditional firm of builders, rather than contractors.

"We are more interested in the quality of work, craftsmanship and developing a relationship, than we are about clever systems and delegation.

"The Sapcote team's expertise, when it comes to working on sensitive, landmark buildings, is second-to-none."

Rick Mather Architects is working alongside Sapcote & Sons on the design and build of the boarding accommodation which aims to attract female, sixth form students to the previously all-male school.

Paul Mullin from the practice said: "Stowe School is steeped in architectural history with the likes of John Vanbrugh (famous for Blenheim Palace), Edward Blore (famous for Buckingham Palace) and Sir Clough William-Ellis responsible for some of the classical architecture at the school.

"The grounds were also landscaped by Capability Brown so it is critical that any new build sits properly in its context."

Sapcote managing director, Richard Sapcote, said: "Our team relishes a job like this as it is all about quality delivered within a value-for-money framework.

"We are a forward-thinking company with traditional values and our approach is honest but non-confrontational. For a client to buy into that is very satisfying."