AFTER more than eight years of furious planning and fundraising, Sir William Borlase's Grammar School has opened its Weston Building - a multi-million pound complex for technology and performing arts.

The Duke of Gloucester, a cousin of the Queen and 18th in line to the Throne, opened the Weston Building at a ceremony last week attended by ex-Borlasians, school governors and parents.

As a professional architect, he said he particularly appreciated the sympathetic brick and flint styling used to blend in with the rest of the school's historic buildings.

The building, in West Street, Marlow, is named after one of the school's most distinguished former pupils Garry Weston, the former chairman of Associated British Foods and owner of Fortnum and Masons department store. He went to Borlase as an evacuee during the Second World War.

The Weston Building houses a 250-seat theatre, soundproofed classrooms for music and drama and a recording studio, jointly funded by the school and the county council.

It is built on two levels and measures approximately 17,000 square metres.

Headteacher Dr Peter Holding said: "None of this could have been achieved without the support of the county council, combined with the overwhelming support of so many parents and ex-pupils."

The scheme attracted nearly £1million worth of donations from 200 people. Dr Holding said the project's Building a Better Borlase fundraising campaign involved a "mammoth effort" and was a "wonderful testimony" to the support the school received from the community over the years.

Pupils entertained guests with a short concert in the theatre and dance demonstrations in the performing arts studios. Dr Holding said: "The new Weston Building has freed up space in other areas of the school and we took the opportunity to redevelop these to improve the quality of the facilities at the school, not to make it bigger but to make it better for our existing pupils and staff."

The parallel developments included a new cafe-style dining area, dance studio and learning centre equipped with 100 PCs, as well as a new art and ceramics workshop, fitness studio and sixth form centre with an improved careers library.

Robert Woollard, chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council and a school governor, said: "It is a great day for the school to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester and a suitably grand start to this exciting new phase in the school's history."