W:
www.b4ed.com
next phase
a window due to the external noise levels. “Pick Everard have focused on a
standardised design strategy, aimed at providing efficiencies in both time and money across the programme. We have analysed a range of appropriate construction methods against a backdrop of very challenging geographic constraints and produced cost-effective, innovative and extremely high-quality design solutions.” Work will now begin on a second
tranche of schools for delivery by September 2015 at a combined value of around £30 million. Pick Everard has also completed feasibility studies for schools required for September 2016 and beyond. “We will be working on a total of 40
projects at a combined cost of more than £150 million, including a range of primary, secondary and SEN schools, which will involve a series of expansions and feasibility studies being completed over a five-year period,” says Allan. “The increased demand for school places
is not unique to London by any means. It is something that is happening across the whole of the UK. Local authorities are increasingly coming under pressure to provide more school places – giving rise to the need for school expansions and improvements such as those we are involved with in Hounslow.”
Work begins at Withington
Construction work has commenced at Withington Girls’ School, Manchester, on a new junior school and hub space to a design by Levit Bernstein. The design includes a classroom plan generated by the ‘golden ratio’. Levit Bernstein won an invited competition to provide a development masterplan for the independent school, which wanted to develop a long- term strategy for the overall enhancement of its accommodation. This new development will release underused space and form the principal western elevation of the school, overlooking the playing fields. To the east it forms the fourth side of a new courtyard space, which is roofed over to form a central, multifunctional hub for the whole school. This ‘found’ space links all the surrounding
facilities in the existing buildings, unifying the school’s accommodation and providing a legible orientation point. A constrained development
programme means alternative modern methods of construction (MMC) have been adopted as a design principal from the beginning. The junior school is conceived as a precast concrete frame with regularly spaced cross walls providing geometrical repetition which suits an MMC approach. The project is due for completion in August 2015 and will open in September 2015.
Playing fields given new lease of life
the state-of-the-art structure includes a five-storey laboratory wing, a double- height plant room and greenhouses for plant studies. The focal point, a central atrium, leads to both the laboratory wing and a five-storey office wing containing administration, computer facilities, seminar rooms and a cafe. A collaborative approach saw NG
Bailey’s engineering, IT services and offsite manufacture divisions working together to complete a full scope of mechanical and electrical services alongside main contractor Vinci Construction UK. The new building’s low-impact design meant that NG Bailey was also tasked with installing a system to collect rainwater to be used to flush toilets and solar panels to heat the building’s water. The building and surrounding area have been giving a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating.
ABOVE:
Extensive recontouring of a constrained site at Greetland Academy, Halifax, by Mirfield-based sports contractor Chappelow Sports Turf has turned the area into two full-size sports pitches, newly sown and ready for use by schools and the community early next year. “The playing field had seen
limited use because it was judged unsafe for sport and we were in
danger of losing it for this purpose,” says Jayne Firth, the academy’s business manager who prepared the academy’s funding bid and later co-ordinated the site project. “Our aim was to develop a safe, accessible facility with specialist coaching for the benefit of all. This involved significantly altering the site topography by cuting and filling, which levelled the existing sloping land to provide two playing fields, with drainage and improved grass surface, for structured sport and play.” The upgraded playing surfaces
will enable local educational sites to improve their sports provision. “The inter-schools partnership is establishing a school league that will enable some 2,640 pupils to play league matches during school hours,” says Firth. “Specialist coaches within the school league, together with trained staff to transport children, will support a well-managed competitive training programme.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49