New activity space for specialist centre
Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, the UK’s largest supplier of refurbished Portakabin buildings, has completed a new facility to meet the increased demand for a specialist charity. FiND2 in Beverley, East Yorkshire, offers day services for young adults with learning disabilities and autism and demand for places is growing. Foremans worked with the charity to help meet its tight budget for new facilities as part of its on-going commitment to supporting local community initiatives. The new scheme has provided an extension to the Belprin Road centre. Features include a kitchen where students who are developing skills they may need for living away from the family home can learn to cook and use household appliances. The main room will be used for a range of activities for the students, mostly aged between 16 and 30, such as creative arts and fitness. FiND2 Manager Louise Thompson said, “The building is fantastic and we are really happy with it – it is exactly what we wanted. We also received great support from Foremans from the initial stages of the project to handover, and in developing the design to our exact requirements.” Mike Williams, Managing Director of
Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, said, “We were happy to support this local charity to help it expand its very worthwhile activities in East Yorkshire. This is a good example of how we could
work with an inspiring organisation in our region, and offer some financial support and our expertise in design and construction to develop a really excellent facility for young people.” There are currently 24 young adults using the centre but the number will now grow in line with the additional capacity. Foremans specialises in recycling and refurbishing Portakabin modular buildings. In order to meet individual project requirements and budgets, the buildings can be supplied decorated or fully refurbished with new windows, wall linings, partitions, mechanical and electrical services, doors, flooring, and cladding, to create high quality accommodation for a wide variety of interim and permanent education applications. The advantages of the Foremans approach to modular construction include: • Programme times reduced
by up to 70 per cent
• A highly cost-effective alternative to new build
• The buildings can easily be expanded, reconfigured or removed for complete flexibility should local requirements change
• Off-site working is maximised for safer, quieter and cleaner sites and reduced disruption to teaching during construction
• High quality steel-framed modular buildings are built to last
• The buildings require fewer ground works than site-based construction – further reducing cost, disruption and programme times. For further information about refurbished Portakabin buildings for schools, academies and colleges, visit
www.foremansbuildings.info, email info@foremansbuildings.
co.uk, or call 01964 544344.
Portakabin provides teaching accommodation for 10,000 children
The increasing demand for school places has resulted in a record number of orders over the past year for interim classroom buildings from Portakabin, the UK’s leading modular building manufacturer. David Laws, Minister of State for Schools, has announced the need for 417,000 additional school places by 2015 under the Targeted Basic Need programme to help address the impact of rising birth rates across the country. According to the Office for National Statistics, more babies were born in the UK in 2011-12 than in any year since 1972, which will have a significant impact on primary school places. The Local Government
Association has said some areas will face a 20 per cent shortfall in places by 2015 and around 1,000 of the local school planning districts will be over capacity by 2015-16. In the last 12 months, Portakabin has worked with more than 300 primary and secondary schools and colleges, delivering around 400 interim classroom buildings to accommodate up to 10,000 pupils and students. The biggest demand has been for primary school facilities and particularly in the London area, but with projects spanning from Tyneside to Cornwall and delivered to the shortest lead times. According to Robert Snook, Director and General Manager of Portakabin Hire, “The use of a modular solution speeds up the build process and so allows schools, colleges and local authorities to respond to the urgent need for additional places more quickly. By completing most of the building work before getting to site, we are able to radically reduce programme times, improve the safety of school sites and ensure much less disruption to teaching. There is also no compromise on the quality of the classroom accommodation just because the buildings are for short-term use.” All interim facilities provided by Portakabin are designed and constructed
26 news portable & modular buildings
to permanent standards and in line with the latest Department for Education guidelines for teaching and learning. The buildings incorporate design best practice, current thinking on anti-bullying strategies and generously-sized, light, modern classrooms. They can be configured as learning clusters, standalone teaching blocks and even single classroom buildings to meet a school’s precise requirements. Portakabin buildings can be fitted out as classrooms, offices, toilets and changing rooms and for more specialist applications such as dance studios, dining rooms, domestic science and general science laboratories. There is also now the option for buildings to be clad to create a more permanent appearance and to help integrate the facilities on an existing school site. Interim teaching facilities give schools, colleges and local authorities the flexibility to increase school places to maintain the highest standards of teaching during major construction or refurbishment work or to meet a short-term surge in pupil numbers. For further information about modular buildings for interim use, visit
www.portanews.co.uk, email information@portakabin.
co.uk or call 0845 401 0010.
Building & Facilities Management – October 2013
Portable & Modular Buildings
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