Development
In the early 1990s, Royal Holloway College looked seriously into the possibility of converting the Sanatorium into a major new hall of residence. The plans would have given the College two of England's greatest Victorian buildings, but building regulations made this too costly.
In 1994, under the guidance of English Heritage, a scheme by Octagon Developments to salvage this Grade I architectural wonder for the nation was accepted. Octagon spent six years in a punctilious art restoration and conversion project. Craftspeople in various disciplines returned the buildings to very near to the original. The Grand Hall was restored and the main building converted into 23 three- and four-storey town houses. The site became “Virginia Park”, a gated and walled development including 190 new houses and apartments, a spa complex, gymnasium, multi-purpose sports hall and an all-weather tennis court. It was described by English Heritage as one of the largest art-conservation projects in Europe. The entrance hall, now fully restored, is a riot of brilliant colours, patterns and grotesque imaginary creatures, and the Dining Room is now a recreation hall housing a swimming pool beneath its hammerbeam roof.
Read more about this topic: Holloway Sanatorium
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—Judith Lewis Herman (b. 1942)
“Ultimately, it is the receiving of the child and hearing what he or she has to say that develops the child’s mind and personhood.... Parents who enter into a dialogue with their children, who draw out and respect their opinions, are more likely to have children whose intellectual and ethical development proceeds rapidly and surely.”
—Mary Field Belenky (20th century)
“Good schools are schools for the development of the whole child. They seek to help children develop to their maximum their social powers and their intellectual powers, their emotional capacities, their physical powers.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)