QE’s new Dining Hall and Café 1573 open

The School’s new Dining Hall and Café 1573 have opened in time for QE’s Christmas festivities.

First to sample the facilities were the staff and boys. Parents and guests are due to be served mulled wine and mince pies in Café 1573 at the Christmas Concert.

Both the Dining Hall and the café are decorated with graphics relating to the School’s history. Café 1573 provides senior pupils with a pleasant coffee shop-style environment in which they can relax and it will also be used by the School for special occasions.

Together, the opening of the Dining Hall and Café 1573 represent the completion of the second phase of a major building project centred on the area between the Shearly Hall and the Mayes Building. Phase I was completed last year with the opening of the Food Technology Area.

The final phase, the new Queen’s Library, is proceeding well. The furniture is due to arrive next month; then the process of installing IT and loading the shelves with 13,000 books can get underway. The library will open later in the academic year, providing 100 computer terminals and 40-50 additional study desks. There will thus be ample space and facilities both to accommodate independent study by Sixth-Formers and to allow its use by pupils from lower in the School.

The Headmaster said: “I am delighted that the second phase of this programme has now been completed: the Dining Hall and Café 1573 are certainly living up to our expectations. Of course, none of this work could have been completed without the generosity of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s: I pay tribute to their giving in support of the School.”

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