ISG are working with West Sussex County Council to rebuild Woodlands Meed SEN College on its current playing field site. The new college building will deliver state of the art facilities for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in West Sussex. Playing fields will be situated on the site of the old building.
This major project to build a new college at Woodlands Meed for the benefit of 100 children with special needs is progressing at pace. The new facilities will provide additional space for college students, will be more suitable for pupils with mobility issues, and have many new features including:
Beginning on site at the end of last year, ISG has now completed the sheet piling work. Storm drainage works have begun which will safely control the runoff of surface water from the new college. The groundwork is continuing to prepare the site ahead of the main construction commencing in the summer.
Project Details
Procurement Type:
Two Stage Traditional
Form of Contract:
JCT 2016
Contract Period: 65 weeks
Size: 25,854 sq ft
A cross laminated timber (CLT) frame, specialist education facility for 64 pupils with SEMH (social, emotional, and mental health) needs, catering to students within the age range 11 – 18.
Delivering within budget – RBC required an educational establishment that was robust, delivered on time and within budget. Upon ISG’s appointment, the scheme was £1m over budget.
Collaborative working during the global pandemic – Covid prevented ISG and the client team from co-locating for the entirety of the preconstruction journey.
Maintaining operational continuity of neighbouring Maiden Erlegh School – The site was in close proximity to Maiden Erlegh School, a live educational facility within a busy residential neighbourhood.
Fast track programme – In the scheme, there was an inflexible deadline. It had to be ready by the first day of class for the new academic year.
Soft landings for a student ready space upon occupation – Although the install of the services went well, our Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) contractor encountered challenges while procuring the new transformer for the upgraded supply.
Delivering within budget – Upon appointment the project was £1m over budget. ISG worked with Department for Education (DfE) to provide value engineering (VE) expertise without compromising on quality. £600k savings were sourced by DfE, and ISG sourced the remaining £400k through hosting VE workshops. VE items included the façade and a reduced furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) package achieved through collaboration with the client and suppliers. The new specialist education facility at Hamilton SEN School has been shortlisted for the 2022 Civic Building of the Year and SPACES Awards.
Collaborative working during the global pandemic – Despite not being able to co-locate for the duration of the preconstruction period ISG ensured a shared vision was established from day one. A tailored stakeholder and communications plan ensured expectations between RBC and our team were understood and met. We led collaborative online workshops to create a Project Charter which outlined key objectives for the project. Featured on this charter were objectives such as:
Maintaining operational continuity of neighbouring Maiden Erlegh School – As well as designing our logistics plan around the school to avoid delivery bottle necks during school hours, ISG hosted five site tours for 26 students at the neighbouring Maiden Erlegh Secondary School and Phoenix College. Students were able to witness our works progressing month-to-month and were able to see first-hand how a safe building site was run. We also regularly dropped newsletters to the school advising of our noisy works schedule and letting them know what to expect on the project in the coming months.
Fast track programme – HCC proposed an ‘off-site solution’ for the new build extension. This was constructed from Cross Laminated Timber panels (CLT). The panels were manufactured off-site in Austria and shipped to site, where they were erected with a self-erecting tower crane. The panels simply slotted, interlocked, and then were screwed together to form the structure and roof decks; a textbook example of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Works progressed from flat slab to ‘completed building’ in two weeks, with a further two weeks of screws and snagging.
Soft landings for a student ready space upon occupation – There was live power to the building, but only 80% of the required capacity. This was sufficient for commissioning not for occupation. With regular site meetings with SSE and manufacturers we were able to increase the capacity locally to allow commissioning and occupation of the new school space.
Air tightness targeted was 5, and we achieved an impressive 1.7. This construction methodology resulted in a programme acceleration resulted in the project being handed over 5 days earlier than planned
Through VE workshops
100% payment within 30 days
HCC’s design proposal to use CLT to promote good airtightness, formed HCC’s drive to reduce carbon. Air tightness targeted was 5, and we achieved an impressive 1.7.
96.2% waste diverted from landfill
Zero RIDDORs
2 new apprentices
Supporting 6 existing apprentices
7 jobs created
28 training weeks, 135 apprentice weeks
School visits organised with local School, Maiden Erlegh
£200 raised for Salvation Army Xmas Present Appeal
Handover & Aftercare Contractor Promise
Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Following Hampshire County Council’s investment to meet increased local demand to provide 300 new places for 11-16 year-old students over the next 5 years, this new extension block forms a two-storey building housing a dedicated maths department as well as two state-of-the-art ICT/technology classrooms. Additionally, there is a new specialist ceramics studio and communal dining area increasing facilities for community use. The project also enhances the existing campus by providing landscaped green social spaces for outside dining, teaching and a performance space with a new amphitheatre for outside productions.
Delivering a project in the midst of a worldwide pandemic
Changing guidance from the Government to the school meant they had to amend how they operated, which in turn meant we had to adapt our works accordingly.
Pressures on programme betterment
We made a collective decision as to whether the client required a temporary school as the original programme had a completion date of the end of September, which would be during term time and meant pupils would need alternative accommodation. We agreed the school would be handed over early, therefore eliminating the need for temporary school accommodation. The earlier completion date meant the client and school had an operational building ready for the new term time.
Late changes to design
Late changes were made to the servery downstairs. The servery was originally designed for cold food prep, however 12 weeks before handover this was to be changed to a hot food mini kitchen.
Delivering a project in the midst of a worldwide pandemic
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we had to re-programme our external works. In our original plan, we were going to work in larger areas at a time and hand each one over. However during the pandemic, the Covid management strategy meant there were changes to the movement of pupils around the school. To meet with this new strategy, we re-programmed our works during half-term periods to allow the school to manage their Covid processes.
In order to minimise any disruption, we worked closely with the school on a daily basis to understand their changing strategies with Covid and then manage our works accordingly. During the tender stage, we implemented more hoarding than originally planned, as the school asked for more segregation between our works and the school.
In addition, drainage works around the existing MUGA and existing fences had to be undertaken during half-term to minimise disruption to the school.
The science refurbishment works were undertaken in the summer holidays. This was a tight programme, however we managed to achieve this through early engagement with the supply chain and being open and honest with them about the programme from the start in order to gain buy in from them. Our engagement with the supply chain started in March, ready for the July start. Materials, labour and resources were also planned ahead so they were ready for the refurbishment phase. We also treated the refurbishment as a separate phase internally, so we could effectively manage the works and meet the timescales.
Pressures on programme betterment
We created an open and collaborative approach with our supply chain. From the outset we offered our supply chain to visit site the project before they started and had early conversations with them to get them on board, particularly with the early packages.
Late Changes to design
Initially there was only a small amount of M&E in the walls, therefore we changed these to suit a commercialised kitchen. We put these extra services in the wall ahead of any design and instruction, so we didn’t delay the programme. The client subsequently incorporated these services into their design.
We successfully finished the building four weeks early and to a delighted Client who gave us a recommended score of 9/10.
100% payment within 30 days terms
100% waste diverted from landfill
100% timber responsibly sourced
37.35 tonnes carbon saved
Zero RIDDORs
CCS Score 42/45
27 No of SMEs delivering
14 beneficiaries
2 jobs created
198 trainee weeks
Schools engagement: 718 students
£4742.60 donations to charity
5 volunteer hours
78% social value created
Soft landings for handover
Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact
On-line portal for notifying any defects with 3 priority categories for response times
Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com
Phone: 07967 686066
Islington, London
London Screen Academy was a design & build project which involved the partial demolition of part of the central and southern section of the existing 4 storey plus basement building. The logistics of building within a building was the most challenging aspect of the project
One of the biggest refurbishment challenges to the non-studio part of the project was the sagging and heavily deflected floors that were in the existing building. The beam-and-pot floor construction had been filled with terracotta void formers but over time this has sagged by up to 60mm across the full extent of the floor.
While the structural condition of its primary frame was generally good, there were some wear and tear problems associated with cracked lintels and corroded steel reinforcement helibars within concrete.
The refurbishment gives the building a major internal reconfiguration as well as adding a new steel frame structure which provides a three-storey film production studio and supporting facilities. The scope of works also included new windows and façade repairs to the existing building.
The existing 4 storey plus building was replaced with a 3 storey plus basement building and a third floor roof amenity space, provision of replacement doors and windows to include ventilation louvres, reinstatement of door on Highbury Grove frontage; provision of bicycle and bin storage and new fence along Kelvin Road frontage; new glazed roof on single storey extension to the south, and removal of the existing single storey structure on roof, extension of two existing stair cores and lift overrun, and provision of new balustrade, photovoltaic panels and a sedum roof at roof level in order to facilitate the use of the building as a specialist Class D1 sixth form school.
The former factory in Islington has been transformed into a new specialist sixth form-only free school for 1,000 16 to 19-year-olds, providing training in film and television, with specialist areas including editing suites and music and performance spaces.
The interiors team worked closely with the design team to deliver the project ready for the first intake of 300 students in September 2019, with the LSA expanding eventually to a capacity of 800-1000 pupils.
100% of payments made on time
98% of waste diverted from landfill
A key aspect was a heating system that makes use of passive heat recovery, using outdoor air to cool the building where possible.
Further low carbon technologies include 100% LED lighting throughout the building, with additional daylight dimming functionality and presence detection.
Extensive electricity, water and gas metering was installed and is monitored by the Building Management System (BMS) so that data can be analysed to further optimise energy usage.
The building’s roof has a green area to enhance biodiversity, solar PV panels to generate renewable electricity and export back to the national grid, achieving cost savings, improving occupancy wellbeing and retaining the building’s existing character.
Handover & Aftercare Contractor Promise
Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Email: guy.dawes@willmottdixon.co.uk
Phone: 07989179444
Client
Valley Invicta Academies Trust
Project Manager
Arcadis
Architect
KSS
Contractor
BAM Construction
Value
£25.54 million
Contract Period
93 weeks
Procurement Type
Design & Build
Form of Contract
JCT 2017
Apprentices
12
BAM has built a new secondary school for pupils aged between 11 and 18, with an annual intake of 180 pupils. The school will help Kent County Council to meet the predicted shortfall in secondary places in the Maidstone area.
The curriculum offers world-class teaching and learning with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM subjects). The school’s industry partners include Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, and international educational partner, the School of Science and Technology in Singapore.
Student Support
Career Development
Local Transport Links
Maidstone Borough Council were imposing a number of conditions, including significant development of local transport links. Some initial concerns were raised by residents about the potential impact on queuing traffic around the entrance of the school. This was addressed by creating a large drop off zone within the car park area.
Planning
The team worked tirelessly to get the scheme through a challenging planning process. Early contractor appointment was essential to ensure affordable design prior to planning submission. The team have worked hard to achieve this ahead of planning.
Contact: Darren Birch, Framework Manager
Email: dbirch@bam.co.uk
Client
Dorset County Council
Project Manager
Dorset County Council
Architect
Dorset County Council
Contractor
Morgan Sindall
Value
£2.7m
Contract Period
49 weeks
Procurement Type
Construction only
Form of Contract
JCT 2011 SFC
A new build two storey, separately annexed, classroom block extension to the existing school to increase capacity from 5 Form Entry (600 pupils) to 6 Form Entry (720 pupils). The new building, located to the eastern side of the existing school, provides four spacious classrooms, a multi-purpose resource teaching space, and a new dining hall and kitchen. The Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) was also replaced as the new building was located on the existing facilities.
Live school environment
Phasing of the works, sectional handovers and decanting pupils as works completed
Our Success
Our Learnings
Value Added
Value engineering was carried out with the following outcomes:
Contract | Gateway 3 Contract Agreement | Gateway 4 Practical Completion | Variation |
---|---|---|---|
Cost | £2,707,877 | £2,521,556 | -7.4% |
Time | 45 weeks | 43 weeks | -2 weeks |
Client
Department of Education
Contractor
Morgan Sindall
Value
£7.5m
Contract Period
80 weeks
At Fulham Cross Girls’ School, the works comprised the demolition of an old 1970’s science block and delivery of a state-of-the-art science building and gymnasium with bespoke science labs, staff rooms, offices and a double-height gym. The new steel frame building with precast concrete planks on the first floor and roof and external brick and clad facade provides 5 new laboratories, preparation room, sports hall, changing rooms, toilets and staff room. The building includes PV panels and attenuation tank.
The main gym complements the all-weather outdoor facilities with associated changing rooms, storage facilities and offices, and capacity for a variety of indoor sports including hockey, netball, dance, and rowing machine activity.
Fulham Cross Girls’ School new block was handed over successfully on budget in March 2020, safely and without delay following the government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fair Payment Charter
Sustainable Development Charter
Health & Safety Charter
Legacy Charter
Handover & Aftercare Contractor Promise
Career Opportunities
Outreach Programmes
Minimising disruption
The project saw the use of temporary modular classrooms to house students away from the works in order to minimise disruption as much as possible to the overall learning environment.
Last minute programme changes
As of March 2020 and amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Fulham Cross Girls’ School new block was handed over successfully on budget and safely following the government guidelines. Last minute programme changes were made to suit the school amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Morgan Sindall utilised their labour to help move the school in/out for handover 2-weeks early.
Noisy works
The school remained fully operational throughout the works which required Morgan Sindall to work closely with the school throughout to minimise the impact on teaching and learning. They re-programmed works to avoid noisy works during busy school time/utilising school holidays where possible.
Our Success
Our Learnings
Value Added
Contract | Gateway 2 Planning | Gateway 3 Contract Agreement | Variation |
---|---|---|---|
Time | 71.7 weeks | 63.6 weeks | -11.4% |
Contact: Alan Smedley, Framework Manager
Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com
Expansion of school by 1FE providing an open and welcoming entrance to give the school a presence in the local community.
The project involved the expansion of Robert May’s Secondary School in Odiham by 1FE, which included a two-storey new-build block and refurbishment within the existing building. External works included demolition of the caretaker’s bungalow and remodelling of the carpark; as well as works to the MUGA to the rear of the school and a grass playing field on a steeply sloped area adjacent the school. As part of these works, the team faced two key challenges;
To enable the new coach drop-off, a new carpark was built first, where the caretaker’s bungalow was located.
Pupil/ pedestrian routes were improved during construction works by directing them along hoarded/ fenced routes to and from the buses and emergency access routes to muster points. Deliveries were only allowed between drop-off and pick-up periods with the construction site gates closed outside these times. We also chaired weekly meetings with the school to discuss the forthcoming works and anticipated vehicle movements. Daily ‘Stand Up’ meetings were undertaken with all operatives on site, to make sure they were aware of what was happening on site that day.
The proactive approach and professional team meant communication between all parties, including the design team and the school was productive, with relationships maintained to the end of the project. Early liaison with the supply chain ensured professional buildability advice and working closely with the school we were able to minimise disruption. The client was also pleased with the successful delivery of the project, giving us a recommended score of 10/10.
100% payment within 30 days terms
100% waste diverted from landfill
100% timber responsibly sourced
Zero RIDDORs
CCS Score 39/45
36 No of SMEs delivering 100% of project value
17 beneficiaries
8 jobs created
120 trainee weeks
Schools engagement: 1031 students
£20 donations to charity
22 volunteer hours
88% social value created
Soft landings for handover
Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact
On-line portal for notifying any defects with 3 priority categories for response times
Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com
Phone: 07967 686066
Two storey teaching block providing 10 classrooms and a 3-court sports hall new build, and a combination of 4 separate refurbishment areas including 2 IT labs as well as remodelling the existing school to provide improvements to the school’s catering facilities, and administration areas. In addition, the project introduced new SEND therapy spaces and an external MUGA.
3. The provision of the new multi-use games area (MUGA) court would provide the new play area and fire point, however, this commenced at the same time as the new build.
3. Through negotiation with Central Bedfordshire Council, we were able to re-surface the adjacent youth centre car-park in return for the school to use this facility as a muster point whilst the MUGA courts were being constructed.
4. Collaborative delivery of scheme within original programme parameters despite being impacted by COVID-19.
100% payment within 30 days terms
94% waste diverted from landfill
100% timber responsibly sourced
Zero RIDDORs
CCS Score 42/45
During the first month on site the construction team delivered a safety assembly to all students and staff at the school. With the help from Ivor Goodsite (CCS Mascot) a fine balance between humour and seriousness was struck to reinforce the importance for all stakeholders to be conscious of the construction works in a live school environment.
Virtual video tour for the local technical college
99 Apprenticeship weeks, 14 No of SMEs
14 beneficiaries, 7 jobs created, 114 trainee weeks,
Schools engagement: 600 students
£50 donations to charity, 20 volunteer hours
80% social value created
Soft landings for handover
Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact
On-line portal for notifying any defects with 3 priority categories for response times
Any site specific process/initiatives
Email: james.wright@devon.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com
Phone: 07967 686066
Three storey modular teaching block boasts new science labs and general classrooms relocating 6th form study areas, associated external works and two separate refurbishment areas offering more general teaching space and expands the school’s kitchen and dining area.
The Project Manager, James Wood, went on to win Construction Manager of the Year and showcased the project at the awards ceremony.
A site-specific risk assessment should be in place prior to commencing work accounting for the local environment in which the work is undertaken. This highlighted the area beneath the cycle shelter is heavily populated with services feeding the school including LV, HV and Gas. Upon completing several trial holes in accordance with the services plan it was discovered the services were laid shallow in the ground with some having less than 500mm cover.
As a result of the incoming services feeding a live school, lowering the services was not a feasible option due to an extended shutdown requirement whilst the works were ongoing. Therefore, a propriety protection board was proposed as a solution to protect the services. The cable protection was specified to be 230mm wide concrete tiles with marker tape to be installed above as a standard requirement. In order to install the protection board, the services needed to be fully exposed and the safest and most efficient method of ground clearance was Vacuum Excavation.
A site-specific risk assessment was in place prior to commencing work accounting for the local environment in which the work is undertaken.
Vacuum excavation avoided using mechanical means to dig near live services as well as significantly reducing the risk of service strike. It also meant there was no need to disrupt existing services feeding a live school thus the school was able to remain operational throughout the entire process avoiding any disruption.
Working with Eco Modular, the project team utilised off-site manufacturing to minimise disruption, create cost and time efficiencies and enhance the building’s sustainability performance. This created a high Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV) which meant the design could be strictly coordinated and managed with regular inspections, including stringent quality checks, via weekly factory visits. The project also had a high percentage of PMV MEP installation including containment, first fix, plant room design and structured cabling architecture.
The high percentage of PMV on the building produced a better-quality product with less rework and remaining onsite activities were predictable, plannable and labour loading was simpler. When Covid struck part-way through, it seemed the project may be in trouble but it was delivered on time and to budget in time for the school’s new academic year..
Zero RIDDORs
CCS Score 44/45
Any site specific initiatives
Soft landings for handover
Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact
On-line portal for notifying any defects with 3 priority categories for response times
Any site specific process/initiatives
100% payment within 30 days terms
A celebratory capsule burying ceremony marked the completion milestone for the students, teachers and project team who worked steadily throughout the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the project was safely delivered on time
18 SMEs
19 beneficiaries
4 jobs created
112 trainee weeks
Schools engagement: 350 students
£600 donations to charity
61 volunteer hours
69% social value created
82% of the building by volume was constructed using offsite manufacturing providing a programme saving of 16 weeks over traditional methods
Water tightness was achieved within 2 weeks of modules being delivered speeding up the construction programme
97% waste diverted from landfill
100% timber responsibly sourced
Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 07761 330560
Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com
Phone: 07967 686066