End-of-Module Installation Ceremony at Surrey-based Low Carbon School

End-of-Module Installation Ceremony Milestone at multi-million pound Surrey-based Low Carbon School

A  significant milestone in one of the DfE’s ‘Low Carbon Pathfinder’ projects has been reached with an end-of-module-installation ceremony taking place at Merstham Park School, near Reigate in Surrey.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from DfE – including Paul Mustow, Divisional Director for DfE – GLF Schools and the project’s principal contractor, McAvoy. With final fit-out and site works now underway, the multi-million-pound school that will provide learning space for around 900 pupils is scheduled for final handover in time for the new academic year in September. The new 2-3 storey building will replace the school’s temporary facilities that have been in use since the school’s opening in 2018 and will provide pupils with high-quality classrooms, play space, a dance studio, an all-weather sports pitch, and a sports’ hall.

The ‘Low Carbon Pathfinder’ school for pupils aged 11-16 seeks to minimise energy usage by implementing the ‘Be Lean, Be Clean, Be Green’ energy hierarchy which focuses on reducing the demand for energy at source through passive measures before considering efficient systems and renewable technology. The building will run mainly on electricity and will feature roof-mounted solar panels. The biophilic design approach encourages pupils and staff to engage with nature, trees will be positioned around sun boundaries to create an inviting environment and assist with cooling.

All the school accommodation, apart from a new sports hall, has been manufactured in a factory-controlled environment at McAvoy’s state of the art facilities. Over the course of six weeks McAvoy’s expert team craned 178 modules into place. Its onsite team will now carry out final ground works and fit-out in advance of official handover later in the year.

McAvoy’s Contracts Director, Martin O’Neill said the adoption of offsite construction, as opposed to more traditional build methods, had major advantages for the DfE, school and its local community.

“In this instance, by choosing an offsite solution the Department was able to commit to delivering a high quality, low carbon school within a much shorter time frame than would have been the case otherwise.  In addition, with much of the school structure being manufactured offsite, both the schools’ pupils who are studying in temporary accommodation and the local community will be exposed to significantly less site traffic movements and disruption. We are delighted with the progress so far and we are looking forward to seeing the pupils being able to enjoy their new school having been in fully temporary accommodation for more than two years.”

Ron Clarke, Chief Executive Officer at McAvoy, said: “This will be an exceptional school building that will meet extremely high environmental standards. We are honoured to have been selected by DfE to drive forward its commitment to low carbon schools within the context of this Pathfinder Project.”

Allan Thomson, Project Director at DfE added:

“I am delighted that we have reached this significant milestone.  It is testament to the hard work and collaborative approach adopted by everyone involved, from the DfE project team and our technical advisors (MACE) to the McAvoy team and of course the GLF Trust who will be the ultimate end-user of what will be a wonderful teaching and learning environment that will benefit not only the staff and pupils but also the wider community for years to come.”

Andy Ward, Head of School at Merstham Park is looking forward to moving into the new school and the brand-new state of the art facilities.

He said: “Our new home will enable our students to flourish in a truly first-class educational setting through the creation of inviting and interactive learning environments”.

He added: “As a community focused school and in line with our core values, we look forward to sharing our facilities with our local community.”

Jon Chaloner, CEO of GLF Schools is delighted that the new building has been built to high environmental standards championing the DfE’s long-term commitment to low carbon schools.

He said: “It has been a pleasure to watch the build grow and develop and the highlight has been to finally tour the site and understand how it will look this summer when it’s finished. With its state-of-the-art facilities, this new build will create wonderful opportunities for our students at Merstham Park and our other local GLF schools, Lime Tree and Merstham Primary who will be able to share, along with the wider community.”

The McAvoy Group is one of the leading offsite manufacturing and MMC specialists in the UK and Ireland. It offers a full range of design, manufacturing, fit out and construction services for the purchase and hire of high quality, affordable and sustainable modular buildings in the health, education, commercial and infrastructure sectors. Renowned for innovation, it is a key player in the pioneering Seismic Consortium, an R&D project launched to revolutionise the design and delivery of school buildings. The Seismic II project is also now underway, which will see its learnings applied to other sectors, including healthcare and commercial.

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A NEW NAME AND EXCITING NEW FUTURE

Elliott Group Ltd, Carter Accommodation Ltd and Procomm Site Services Ltd, leaders in UK modular services and part of Modulaire Group, are today delighted to announce plans to unite under a common brand – Algeco[1].

UK customers will benefit from a stronger, better-integrated and structured organisation, with a renewed commitment to placing customer service excellence at the heart of the organisation.

Algeco shares the responsibility for developing sustainable futures for our customers, our business, and its products and services. Core to this is being a trusted solutions provider to the industries we support. We enable people to work more productively, improve their quality of life, and enhance their learning. We design and deliver whatever our customers need, whenever and wherever they need it.

The move will create a single, consistent brand across the UK and Europe, to reflect the group’s position as a leader in European modular services and infrastructure. Algeco has a proud heritage of serving customers across Europe, providing a strong basis for the single identity, which will facilitate growth in brand equity in the marketplace and allow UK customers to benefit from best practice sharing with Algeco in Europe and producing innovative modular solutions. The adoption of Algeco as the single brand in the UK will create a common sense of identity and purpose for the UK business. We propose to make these changes effective from 31st March 2022.

The combined UK business will be headquartered in Peterborough, with a total of 23 site locations throughout the country servicing its portable, modular building and offsite construction hire and sales activities.

John Campbell, Managing Director of Algeco in the UK, said: “Adopting the Algeco brand in the UK provides a link with our heritage, whilst also symbolising the transformation the UK business is currently going through as part of our group’s global ambitions. We have an exciting future ahead of us.”

He added: “The Algeco brand has solid foundations built on excellence, sustainability, innovation and collaboration. These elements are cornerstones of what we call our customer obsession – continually looking for ways to exceed expectations, deliver best-in-class service and develop sustainable futures for our customers and colleagues.”

Algeco and the Modulaire Group are owned by investment funds managed by Brookfield Business Partners L.P, which acquired the Modulaire Group in December 2021. Brookfield Business Partners is the flagship listed business services and industrials company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with over $600 billion of assets under management.

[1] Advanté will remain a separate brand with its specialist offering in welfare accommodation.

 

 

Elliot Group Website

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Best Possible Design for New School

Five architecural firms are working to come up with the best possible design for the replacement of Dumfries High School.

And councillors this week requested reassurances from education chiefs that athletes and groups who use the David Keswick Centre won’t lose out when the construction work begins in 2024.

At Tuesday’s education committee, Provost Tracey Little asked: “What’s the situation with the David Keswick Centre, and also the 3G pitches at the back of the school?

“Is the David Keswick Centre part of this new build or will it be left in situ?

“Whatever’s happening, are we consulting with them continually?”

Council education officer Larann Foss replied: “Absolutely, the engagement has started with the Greystone Rovers Foundation around the use of the David Keswick Centre as we know that’s used outside of school core hours through a service level agreement.”

He went onto explain that there would a tandem build, saying: “We maintain the existing facility – so both the David Keswick Centre and the school have to be maintained as an operational facility during the construction phase.

“Now that we’ve had the go-ahead to engage with Hub Southwest around the design phase, we’ve actually started engagement with five architectural firms to look at which one is going to be the best partnership for us to engage with around the site development.

“As that progresses, we’ll have options appraisals to determine the best location within the site itself – whether that’s effectively behind the school or in front of the school.”

The £74 million Dumfries High replacement project could get under way in the second quarter of the year.

The development forms part of phase two of the Dumfries Learning Town scheme.

Phase two of the Learning Town project also includes provision for a refurbishment of Dumfries Academy and the relocation of Loreburn Primary into the Minerva building on the academy site.

Both schemes are being funded through the council’s Capital Investment Strategy as the Scottish Government rejected the bid for financial support for them.

Parents of pupils attending Loreburn Primary recently voiced fears over the safety of the ageing building.

 

Source: Daily Record

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Geen Light for School Transformation

Whitley Bay High School

 

Plans to transform a North Tyneside school are set to be given the green light by councillors.

The school revamp is part of the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme

The Department for Education has asked North Tyneside Council for permission to carry out a partial demolition project to make way for a new building and sports hall at Whitley Bay High School.

If the proposals are given the go-ahead ageing teaching blocks to the south of the school site will be bulldozed to make way for a brand new facility built to the north.

Planning documents lodged with the authority stated the new building will “include a wide range of departments zoned around a central landscaped area, and include a new sports hall and activity studios”.

The departments include specialist teaching spaces for ICT, technology and science along with general teaching spaces for maths, English and other subjects.

The document continued: “The new school building would be situated to the north of the current school site in order to assist in creating a clear and legible layout.

“This will ensure that both the existing and proposed school buildings have good functional linkages and create a coherent overall ‘campus’ feel.”

The school revamp is part of the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme, which was set up to address the needs of schools in need of major rebuilding or refurbishment.

A report from the authority’s planning department recommended approval for the scheme saying ” it is considered that it will improve educational facilities within this part of the borough to meet the needs of the local community”.

North Tyneside Council’s planning committee will vote on the proposals next Tuesday.

 

Source: Chronicle Live

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Minister Visits Maybole Community Campus

Clare Haughey MSP, Minister for Children and Young People recently visited the construction site of the Maybole Community Campus.

The Minister was given a tour of the South Ayrshire site as the £50 million learning campus starts to take shape.

Work is progressing well, with one of the two all-weather pitches already in place and steelwork appearing on the town’s skyline.

When complete, the new campus will have capacity for 1,370 pupils, and a new Early Years Centre will operate on site for 52 weeks of the year.

The campus will also appeal to the wider community, with new outdoor sports facilities, changing pavilion and a new indoor swimming pool which will be available for public use.

Clare Haughey, Minister for Children and Young People said: “We are continuing to work with Councils across the country to invest significant funding from the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme to improve the condition of Scotland’s learning estate.

“In South Ayrshire, the modern facilities planned as part of the new Maybole Community Campus will benefit not only children and young people, but also teaching and other school staff.”

Councillor William Grant, Children and Young People Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: “It’s great that work is progressing. This is our biggest ever investment in a community campus and when it’s completed next year, local children from two to 18 years of age will benefit from the new state-of-the-art learning facility.

“These are exciting times for Maybole, with the community campus well underway, the new bypass just opened and plans for the regeneration of the town’s high street being put in place.”

Michael Ross Chief Executive of hub South West Scotland, South Ayrshire Council’s development partner, said: “This is our largest project for South Ayrshire Council to date, and I am sure it will provide first class educational and community facilities that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

“We are also very excited by the community and economic benefits that will be generated via this project, along with employment and apprenticeship opportunities that have been core to its development from the outset.

“As development partner we have successfully delivered over £122 million of projects for South Ayrshire Council and we work closely with the team to ensure our impressive collective track record is maintained.

“We now have over £600 million of education experience across south west Scotland and invest consistently with our Tier 1 contractors, design teams and supply chain in continuous improvements to achieve excellence in community education facilities in terms of value for money, quality and community outputs.”

Stuart Parker, Managing Director of Morgan Sindall Construction Scotland, said; “We were very excited to welcome the Minister to the site to see our progress on what is an important project for Maybole and the young people who reside in the town.

“By working collaboratively with South Ayrshire Council and hub South West, we are continuing with our commitment to deliver exceptional educational facilities and improve prospects for pupils in Scotland. The campus has also provided a fantastic opportunity for our Tigers apprentices to gain valuable experience on a project which is local to them and will have a huge impact on their community. They should feel extremely proud of what they have achieved so far and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with the training provider.”

The new campus is being built on the existing Carrick Academy site and will incorporate Carrick Academy, St Cuthbert’s Primary and Culzean Primary School and Early years Centre, formed from the amalgamation of Cairn Primary and Gardenrose Primary schools.

The new campus is set to open in 2023.

 

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McAvoy delivering £40million education contracts

The McAvoy Group is currently delivering three new educational facilities valued at £40million on behalf
of the Department for Education (DfE). The latest projects are The Cavendish School in Cambridgeshire,
Merstham Park Secondary School near Reigate, and Laureate Academy in Hemel Hempstead.

 

The Cavendish School will provide a much-needed specialist school for children with autism, the world’s first International Baccalaureate (IB) special autism school, with a range of new facilities including multi-functional learning areas, calm and sensory spaces, and a horticultural room. Merstham Park School will see long-standing temporary facilities replaced by a brand-new building, designed to be one of the DfE’s first pioneering low-carbon pathfinder projects. At Laureate Academy an outdated teaching block has been demolished, and a new building created, along with a new multi-use games area.

Progress on delivering these projects follows a productive 12 months for the offsite manufacturing specialists, which, despite the challenges of Covid 19, has seen the business invest heavily in strengthening its senior management team and building for the future.

Ron Clarke, CEO of The McAvoy Group, said: “Our primary objective at The McAvoy Group is to deliver an exceptional experience for every customer through the quality of service we provide. We’re delighted to have been entrusted with the delivery of these latest contracts by the DfE. Given the huge disruption to education during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever for new school buildings to be delivered quickly and efficiently on programme and to the highest standard.

“We look forward to working with the DfE, local councils and other partners to deliver these new school places in well-designed, high-quality buildings that are fit for the future.”

The announcement comes as the business retained a place on the latest iteration of the DfE’s £7bn four-year Construction Framework for the delivery of school buildings in England.

The McAvoy Group is one of the leading offsite manufacturing and MMC specialists in the UK and Ireland. It offers a full range of design, manufacturing, fit out and construction services for the purchase and hire of high quality, affordable and sustainable modular buildings in the health, education, commercial and infrastructure sectors. Renowned for innovation, it is a key player in the pioneering Seismic Consortium, an R&D project launched to revolutionise the construction of school buildings. The Seismic II project is also now underway, which will see its learnings applied to other sectors, including healthcare and commercial.

 

www.mcavoygroup.com

 

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University Turf Cutting Ceremony

University of Exeter: Turf cutting ceremony celebrates start of construction on a £30m water reserch centre in Exeter

 

Part funded by a £10.5M UKRPIF (UK Research Partnership Investment Fund) grant from Research England and investment from both partners, CREWW will be the first purpose built, transdisciplinary research centre in the water sector, building on many years of collaboration and representing a step change in the University’s partnership with the water company.

The CREWW will combine expertise in Geography, Biosciences, Engineering, Economics, and Psychology at the University with SWW industry colleagues to develop solutions to some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Including how best to manage our finite natural resources in sustainable ways, and how to protect and adapt those communities and habitats which are vulnerable to climate change and population growth.

The new centre will accommodate state-of-the-art, specialist laboratory facilities, and designated space to encourage collaborative research and training between academics and experts from the water industry, government and NGOs.

Vice-Chancellor at the University of Exeter, Professor Lisa Roberts, said: “It is fantastic to mark this significant step in our journey to become a leading University in climate and environmental research. The new CREWW facility supports the University’s long term vision, as part of our 10 year Strategy 2030, to lead meaningful action against the climate emergency and ecological crisis.

“CREWW will lead pivotal interdisciplinary research, bringing together our best minds from across multiple disciplines with industry experts at South West Water, to discover solutions that will make a difference to peoples’ lives and protect the future of water systems in the South West, the UK and on a global scale.”

South West Water will play a leading role in the development and success of the new centre, investing over £20million into the collaborative programme over the period of 2020-25, and beyond.

Susan Davy, Chief Executive Officer for Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, attended the turf cutting ceremony. Susan said: “We are delighted to celebrate work starting on the new CREWW building and can’t wait to see the facility take shape. This partnership will help find solutions to some of the most pressing issues our region faces and mitigate risks from challenges such as climate change. Through collaborative research and innovation we will together play a leading role in protecting and enhancing our natural environment.”

Located on North Park Road on Streatham Campus, opposite Laver and Harrison buildings and adjacent to the Amory building, the CREWW centre will be in the heart of Streatham Campus.

A public consultation on the proposed plans for the CREWW building was held in March 2021 and the scheme was granted planning approval by Exeter City Council in July 2021.

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£10m LOW CARBON SCHOOL FOR BRISTOL

BAM has been appointed by the South Gloucestershire Council to deliver a £10m low carbon primary school under the Southern Construction Framework (SCF).

Frenchay Church of England Primary School will be replaced with a two-storey, two-form entry building and will accommodate up to 420 primary-age children.

It has been designed to achieve low carbon Passivhaus standards, featuring triple glazing, solar panels, highly insulated thermal fabric and heat recovery units.

Social value is a key priority for BAM

The project team is also joining forces with the Frenchay Residents’ Association to renovate a damaged nearby pond and picnic area. This will include tidying up surrounding overgrowth and the removal of plants to a temporary holding pond as the new one is relined.

Groundworks have already been completed and the school is set to open in September 2022.

‘Environmentally-conscious primary school’

Tim Chell, BAM Construction Western’s regional director, covering South West England and South Wales, commented: “This award cements BAM’s long-standing relationship with South Gloucestershire Council and draws on our wide-ranging experience of delivering progressive, sustainable facilities in the education sector.

“This scheme underlines our forward-thinking approach to delivering ultra-sustainable education projects. We are using digital modelling and 4D planning to deliver a progressive, net zero design solution that will give the pupils and staff of Frenchay Primary School an enhanced and sustainable learning environment now and for generations to come.”

Cabinet Member for Education, Skills & Employment, Cllr Erica Williams, Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources Cllr Ben Burton and local councillors recently visited the site and commented:

“It’s excellent to see the construction of the new school building for Frenchay Primary School well underway. We have been planning this project for some time and I am delighted to see the building take shape.

“Our number one priority is to give every young person in South Gloucestershire the best start in life and this significant investment will provide local children with an improved learning environment in which they can achieve their full potential.”

Passivhaus standards

Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources Cllr Ben Burton said: “It’s great to see our plans for a bigger and more environmentally-conscious primary school in Frenchay come to fruition. The work on site is progressing very quickly, with the developer already making significant ground in a short space of time.

“The new building has been designed to Passivhaus standards, which will not only make the school one of the most energy efficient in South Gloucestershire, but also supports our Climate Emergency goals.

“This is a multimillion-pound investment demonstrating our commitment to deliver important infrastructure for local families in the Frenchay area.”

Katherine Marks, Headteacher at Frenchay CofE Primary School, said: “Every member of our community is very excited about the move to the new school building. It will offer us so much space to extend our curriculum and learning opportunities.

“The children will have the chance to learn about the Passivhaus standard as part of their global topics each year. This will provide not only first-hand experiences but also unique opportunities.”

 

Source: PBC Today

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Not just for the Boys, Ladies in Construction

Girls at a Vale of Clwyd secondary school have been given a taste of the opportunities for them to take up careers in construction by one of North Wales’s leading builders.

Brenig Construction spent a day at Denbigh High School introducing Year Seven students to the opportunities in an industry that has thrown off its old male-dominated image.

The Mochdre-based company are building a high-tech renewable estate of homes on the town’s Henllan Street, for Denbighshire County Council, the first council houses in the county for over 30 years.

Llwyn Eirin will provide 22 low-carbon semi-detached houses for social rent all built and certified to the energy-efficient Passivhaus standard and with ground-source heating provided by nine 450-foot-deep boreholes feeding a heat exchanger system.

 

Brenig’s three-person team of Quantity Surveyor Caroline Thomas, Construction Manager Steve Walker and Health and Safety and Training Manager Adam Jones spent the day speaking to Year Seven groups, giving them a quiz on construction roles and answering their questions.

Caroline said:

“People used to think women weren’t strong enough to work in construction but we are and there are so many different roles within the industry that there are lots of opportunities.

“Women can be bricklayers, decorators and plant operators as well as architects, surveyors and engineers.

“On our site at Llwyn Eirin we have a decorator, an architect and a structural engineer who are all women and I go on site there as well and go up ladders just like the men and I’m treated the same as them too.

“At the moment 14 per cent of the construction workforce is female but that’s growing and I have a number of friends who work in the building industry.

“Brenig believe in equal opportunities and among our staff we have a number of women including drivers, painters, the architect for the Llwyn Eirin site and an ecologist.

“After hearing this I hope many of the pupils we have spoken to today will consider careers in construction, including plenty of the girls.”

Year Seven girls Esme Salisbury and Lily Gage said they enjoyed the visit by Brenig Construction and would consider careers in construction.

Lily said:

“It was fun and interesting. I had never thought of a career in construction before but I definitely would now.”

The careers day was organised by Careers Wales whose Martin Webber said: “I wanted to make pupils aware of the different opportunities available to them in construction and to inspire them.

“The team from Brenig have done a great job and are positive role models for the industry and I’m sure what the students have heard today

The Brenig Construction Group, based in Mochdre, near Colwyn Bay, was established by joint managing directors Mark Parry and Howard Vaughan who first met as six-year-olds at their local youth club in Glan Conwy in 1987.

They both qualified as civil engineers before being reunited at Dawnus Construction which they left to found Brenig in 2012 and the company now employs 65 staff and is turning over £20 million a year, with an order book bulging with £60 million of work.

In 2018 they moved into new headquarters at the business park in Mochdre which they built for Cartrefi Conwy with whom they work together as Calon Homes with Creating Enterprise, a subsidiary of the housing association.

They have expertise in civil engineering and groundworks while their portfolio now also includes maintenance, social housing and plant hire.

Source: Business News Wales

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4 year old multi million school building set to close

A primary school could lose an award-winning multi-million pound building constructed less than four years ago.

Southwark council wants to cut the number of students each year at Ivydale Primary School in Nunhead by a third from 90 to 60.

The plans would see the school downsize to one building, with the closure of the £8million Inverton Road site which opened in 2018.

It was constructed to meet a surging demand for school places in Southwark and doubled the school’s capacity.

The building was awarded a prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects for its design.

But under plans to cut the number of reception classes from two to three, the building would no longer be needed.

Instead all pupils would be taught at the primary school’s Victorian site on Ivydale Road from September 2022.

The school accepted 90 reception students in the 2021/2022 academic year and is expected to recruit the same amount in 2022/23.

Southwark Council intends to reduce the intake to 60 pupils from 2023 onwards.

Council documents say cutting the numbers of students “will help to right size capacity across the locality, and enable Ivydale to reorganise as a strong 2FE [two form entry] school.”

But parents have criticised the move, saying the school is popular and there is no need to reduce its intake.

A petition created by Peckham Rye councillor Victoria Mills demanding the school remain on two sites has been signed by almost 500 people.

It says: “We oppose Southwark Council’s proposals to close the Inverton Road building from September 2022 returning the school to a single site.

“Many local children will not be able to secure places at a smaller school.

“By moving to one site the remaining building and playground will be overcrowded. There will be 20 classes on a site that is capable of only accommodating 15 classes.

“We ask that the leader of Southwark Council and the cabinet member for children and schools reject these proposals and look for alternative ways to reduce deficits in the borough’s school budgets.”

Mills also tweeted: “Southwark Council’s proposal to return Ivydale School to a single site are wrong. Local councillors are opposed. This will be detrimental to kids’ education & to a school that is at the heart of our community. We are arranging a meeting with Leader of the council & Cabinet member.”

Another resident, Eli Marr, tweeted: “This is absolutely bonkers. This will not only impact education for the children, but also have a serious impact on the local community. Leave Ivydale school as it currently is. It’s an amazing school at the moment, which in turn creates a great local community.”

Commenting on the petition, one resident said: “This is an utter waste of a brand-new, award-winning school building, and appears to offer a reduced quality of education to children. If the purpose is to save money, there must be a better way.”

Another said: “All children need and deserve safe and enriching space in which to learn and play. Reducing the intake and taking away the extra space at Ivydale which so many people worked so hard for is a nonsensical decision on so many levels.”

Southwark Council has been contacted for comment.

 

Source: South London Press

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