The London Screen Academy

Islington, London

  • Client

    The Secretary of State for Education

  • Contractor

  • Value

    £26.6m

  • Completion Date

    August 2019

The Challenge

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 Solution

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 Results

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.

4

Apprentices

97.8%

SME Spend

£2.5m

Added Value

9/10

Client Satisfaction

Client Testimonials

“We’re surrounded by roads on at least two sides and we share party walls with adjacent housing. Because it’s such a tight site there’s also no laydown area for any kind of storage or assembly during construction. Access is limited too, we had to form a hole in one of the basement light well walls and everything, including all the temporary steelworks, tower crane and piling rig had to come in and out of that.”

“Refurbishment projects are an ideal opportunity to embed sustainable technologies. At London Screen Academy, we used the BREEAM ‘Non-Domestic Refurbishment and Fit-Out 2014’ standard.”

Contractor Performance | Commitments

Fair

100% of payments made on time

Sustainability

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.

Safe

Legacy

Aftercare

Handover & Aftercare Contractor Promise

SCF Framework Manager

James Wright

Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk

Phone: 07761 330560

Contractor Framework Manager

Guy Dawes

Email: guy.dawes@willmottdixon.co.uk

Phone: 07989179444

Paignton Community and Sports AcademyInstitute of Technology, Exeter College