St Edmund's College – Heads of Boarding Honours Board
Wooden
St Edmund's College in Old Hall Green, near Ware in Hertfordshire, asked us to produce a new honours board to record the school's Heads of Boarding. The brief was specific. A single board, traditional in feel, sitting comfortably alongside the existing displays around the college. Founded in 1568, St Edmund's has the kind of setting where a lightweight modern panel would have felt out of place, so the board needed to lean towards the historic side of the catalogue rather than the contemporary. We designed and manufactured a curved-top school honours board in sapele, sized at 1200 × 1000mm, with light gold lettering and brass fixings. The result records the role of Head of Boarding from its earliest holders through to the present, with plenty of room reserved for future names.
Honours Board Specification
SIZE:
material:
BACK colour:
TEXT COLOUR:
BOARD EDGES:
FIXINGS:
1200 x 1000mm
Wooden
Sapele Stain A
Avery 900 series light gold cut vinyl lettering
Curved top wooden honours board
Brass mirror fixings
Why Sapele and Light Gold
Sapele was the deliberate choice here. It's a deep, reddish-brown hardwood with a close grain that sits well in older school buildings, and it reads as more formal than oak when stained to a richer tone. The board was built from sapele faced MDF with a solid sapele frame, finished in Sapele Stain A to bring the face and frame to a consistent warm tone. The top edge follows a curved profile rather than a straight or gabled line, which softens the silhouette and suits the period of the surrounding interiors.
For the lettering we used Avery 900 series light gold cut vinyl. Gold on darker timber is a classic combination for a reason. It catches available light without shouting, and the lighter shade of gold reads as understated rather than brassy against the sapele background. Names, dates and the board title were all cut and applied in-house, with dividing lines structuring the chronological list of Heads of Boarding down the face. The board was supplied with brass mirror fixings, which match the warmth of the timber and give the school a straightforward way to mount it securely. For more on timber options, our wood types guide covers the practical differences between sapele, oak and the other species we use.
Updating the Board Year on Year
Boarding schools tend to think in long horizons. A board recording Heads of Boarding needs to last decades, not years, and it needs to be straightforward to add to when a new name is confirmed each year. We laid the board out with this in mind, reserving capacity well beyond the current list so the column structure holds its proportions as entries are added.
When the school is ready to add a new name, the process is simple. Jennifer and the team send us the details, we produce the new vinyl in the matching light gold, and it's posted out with fitting instructions so it can be applied on site in a few minutes. No need to take the board down, no need to reprint anything. As you'd expect, we keep the artwork file on record, so the lettering remains consistent in font, size and finish for the life of the board.
For St Edmund's, the finished piece gives the role of Head of Boarding the permanence it deserves, in a material and finish that belongs in a 450-year-old college.
If you're planning a new honours board for your school or boarding house, get in touch and we'll talk you through the options.
Our honours board prices start from £250, depending on size / material options.
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