BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT
Building high quality, long lasting schools for less A
t the present time the Department for Education's priorities include high quality
school buildings which create a safe and inspiring environment for pupils. They have also made a commitment to strict sustainability standards to meet environmental targets and at the same time achieve a cost-effective way of building. In January last year, the DfE launched the £3bn
offsite framework, also known as the modern methods of construction (MMC) framework. Although not a new way of designing and building, the move towards utilising MMC as a preference for education projects can offer substantial benefits, certainly in terms of cost effectiveness but also with regards to environmental standards, saving time and a set standard of higher quality materials used. Economies of scale mean that the bigger the
orders placed, the better they are able to plan ahead and price competitively. The DfE programme will deliver some 30 offsite schools a year with a projected pipeline of up to £3bn over the next four years, split into a £2bn programme of secondary school projects above 6,000m2 and a £1bn initiative of 750m2 to 6,000m2 primary and secondary schools. The DfE has created design guides to show
how offsite schools could be designed using MCC and offsite construction, incorporating the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA, an agency of the Department for Education), very specific design guide which includes stringent environmental and daylighting requirements.
April 2021
The designs and specifications have been honed and modified so that all schools built with MMC are now constructed to the same specification as traditionally built schools i.e., with a 60-year life span. Included in the EFSA’s specification guideline is
a recommendation for Area Elastic Floors for school sports and activity spaces. A solid hardwood floor and sprung undercarriage system falls into this category, deemed to provide a safe, high performing floor with unbeatable lifecycle costs. Based on Junckers’ consistency of quality, longevity, cost effectiveness and adaptability, the company’s solid wood sports flooring systems have already been specified for several schools in the framework, e.g., Thames Park Secondary School built by Bowmer & Kirkland, and part of framework agreements set up with the main contractors appointed by the DfE to implement the offsite construction programme. With a reputation for the highest quality, a
Junckers solid hardwood sports floor is one of the most durable surfaces available for multi-purpose sports use. All Junckers’ sports floors comply with EN 14904 with a choice of Category A3 and A4 systems. The lifecycle cost of a Junckers floor is second to none; it can be sanded and re-finished eight to ten times during its life. With 12-year intervals between sandings, a typical lifespan of 60 years will comfortably be exceeded, a claim that probably no other type of sports floor can match. In addition, a hardwood floor is one of the
most environmentally friendly sports flooring finishes you can find. All Junckers’ timber comes from properly managed forests with FSC and PEFC chain of custody certification and the company’s floors hold EPDs and are BREEAM A+ rated. Junckers floors are carbon neutral and at the end of their lives they are very easy to recycle, perfectly aligned with the DfE’s push to improve carbon credentials, improve energy performance and produce less wate and pollution, all of which are more achievable through MMC. Increasing the volume of schools built using MMC and the more standardised and repeatable the designs become, the more efficient the delivery.
Junckers uUnit A, 1 Wheaton Road, Witham, Essex CM8 3UJ
u01376 534 700
usales@junckers.co.uk uwww.junckers.co.uk u@junckersfloors
www.education-today.co.uk 37
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