St Michael’s CE Primary School

Client
Wiltshire Council
Contractor
Value
£7.25m
Completion Date
August 2018

Project Background

New 2FE (420 place) primary school plus 60-place nursery school provision on greenfield site in Larkhill, Wiltshire. This project was part of the Army Rebasing Programme for the relocation of troops from Germany with 917 homes constructed by Morgan Sindall Group sister company, Lovell.

The Challenge

Challenging site access
The installation of the planned approach road to site (not undertaken by Morgan Sindall) was delayed and not in place for the start of works.

Complex topography and formation of terraced hard landscaping
The topography of the site involved a 15m gradient across the site.

Bringing the project to budget
A VE exercise was undertaken during the second stage to identify opportunities and suggest alternative products or rationalisation of the design, to bring the project to budget.

The Solution

Challenging site access
We had to utilise an alternative 2.5 mile redundant off-road ‘tank’ track. Prior to being able to use this route, appropriate UXO and archaeology certificates had to be obtained.

Complex topography and formation of terraced hard landscaping
The school building itself was positioned at the lowest part of the slope, with the courtyard and break-out areas to the rear on the same elevation. The first terrace was formed using a stone gabion retaining structure, leading to soft landscaping. The next level was formed with a timber crib local wall providing the Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). The following terrace created a wild flower meadow, and finally the top level provided the sports pitches.

Bringing the project to budget
The VE exercise identified the following:

A Siniat Weather Defence Board was identified as an alternative product which reduces reliance on workmanship, providing a consistent quality finish and reducing the need for third-party quality checks, saving costs.

Omission of Brise Solei and adjustment to floor finishes, provided a £20k saving to the school’s life cycle costs.

Thickness of the ground floor slab was reduced from 200mm all over, to 150mm to all areas, except the plant room and main hall, saving £20k.

Composite windows were changed to aluminium, saving £50k. Aluminium windows offer the same BREEAM rating, achieve the same U value and are a more robust product.

The Results

We identified over £436k of savings through the VE exercise up to Gateway 3, an additional £10k to incorporate cycle storage, and a further £220k incorporated during the project (signed off at Gateway 4). We also successfully delivered the project to a delighted client who gave us a recommended score of 9/10.

£446,000k

Added Value

9/10

Client Satisfaction

Client Testimonials

“This is such an exciting time; a new school of this size and calibre is a resource for the whole of our community, our partner schools and colleagues but, above all, it is the future for our children. Salisbury Plain Academies is delighted that the Bishop and so many guests have joined us to mark the beginning of that future.”

Helen MethiesonCEO of Salisbury Plain Academies

“We are very pleased with progress to date and the good work that your site team are doing for us. We are especially grateful to Rob for all his efforts. He’s without doubt one of the best Site Managers that I’ve worked with and you should ensure that you keep hold of him!!”

Anthony Dixon Project Manager, Wiltshire Council

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Contractor Performance | Commitments

Fair

100% payment within 30 days terms

Aftercare

Soft landings for handover

Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact

On-line portal for notifying any defects with 3 priority categories for response times

Sustainability

100% timber responsibly sourced

Safe

Zero RIDDORs

Legacy

29 beneficiaries