Supporting investment in our schools

In 2020 the Prime Minister announced a major school rebuilding programme, which will not only start to address the problems of ageing buildings, but also help to create the extra space needed for the growing number of secondary age pupils. 50 school building projects are to share £1 billion in the first phase of the 10-year investment programme, with an extra £560 million being made available for upgrades and repairs.

Smart Architectural Aluminium’s Managing Director, Eddie Robinson, said: “The Government’s focus on re-building schools is great news for education. We will bring our experience and expertise to support this initiative, working with our fabrication and installation partners to deliver effective and efficient solutions for these critically important projects.”
Smart’s systems have been used extensively across a wide range of both new build and refurbishment education projects, from nursery and primary schools right up to some of the UK’s most prestigious universities.
The Lanchester Community Free School, the University of Roehampton and Ivanhoe College are just three of many project examples in this sector, each demonstrating the company’s range of systems and solutions, selected to meet specific requirements.

For the refurbishment of the locally-listed, Art Deco-style Lanchester Community Free School in Watford, windows and doors from the company’s Alitherm Heritage range were specified.
With a design requirement to retain the slim lines of the building’s original steel windows, over 70 window assemblies (covering approximately 650m² in total) and 15 door entrances were installed from the Alitherm Heritage range, the doors being set in the Smart MC Wall framing system. The window and door profiles were all finished in white polyester powder coating at the company’s state-of-the-art paint facility, matching the materials being replaced and providing a robust, durable and low-maintenance finish.
Designed to meet the requirements of heritage projects and listed buildings, all Alitherm Heritage windows deliver enhanced thermal performance. Similarly, the system’s doors are ideally suited to school projects, which typically have a high footfall and heavy usage. Certified to PAS24 for security and BS6375 for weather testing, rebated doors are also available to provide an effective ‘anti-finger trap’ solution, which is perfect for heavily trafficked, public buildings.
For Ivanhoe College, the installation of Smart Alitherm 600 windows made a significant improvement, not only to its outward appearance, but also to the learning environment and the energy efficiency of the building. The programme to replace the school’s old windows with the modern, thermally-efficient Alitherm 600 system followed the successful completion of the first phase of an extensive refurbishment programme in March 2013, with the windows having been installed with minimal disruption to both staff and pupils, allowing the school to continue to operate.
This versatile Alitherm 600 system provides a wide range of solutions for light commercial applications. Offering the design flexibility to create the appearance of a traditional casement window, or a more contemporary style for modern applications, the system is the perfect solution for schools such as Ivanhoe. Alitherm 600 provides excellent thermal performance and is designed to meet the exacting requirements of Document L 2020.
Eddie Robinson continued: “Our development team works closely with clients, architects and our fabricator and installation partners to deliver the right solution for each individual project, making sure that we deliver systems that work successfully from both an aesthetic perspective, and a construction one.
“Across our ranges, we have seen schools transformed into modern, bright and energy efficient buildings, providing benefits to both students and staff. We have a huge portfolio of products and systems that we can draw on depending on the specific project requirements, including our high-performance EcoFutural range, which offers a wide choice of options for the ultimate in thermal performance and weather protection.”
Eddie Robinson concluded: “With a tailored range of products backed by our market-leading technical support services, we have a complete package of solutions for the education sector. We are looking forward to working with local authorities, schools, architects and designers, as well as our supply chain partners, to help deliver the Government’s rebuilding programme and to support the regeneration of our critical education infrastructure.”

www.smartsystems.co.uk