Whitchurch Primary School, Bristol - Extension

Key Facts

Client: Bath & North East Somerset Council
Value: £1.08m
Sector: Education
Architect: BBA
Programme: 25 weeks
Procurement Contract: NEC3 Engineering & Construction (Design & Build).

Scope of Work: Construction of a new detached building with toilets and storage facilities.

The new timber frame school building was built on part of playing field land achieving high insulation and air tightness results.

The challenging issues experienced were not just working alongside an occupied school, but in manoeuvring vehicles onto and from the very busy Bristol (A37) Road, carting away bulk excavated materials, and large deliveries in the form of beam & block flooring and timber framing, often by crane off-loading.

The children were fully protected and clear segregation was made between staff, parents and construction traffic.

Due to space constraints, the compound and storage areas were restricted, causing additional pressures upon the management of the site. Oakland Construction administered a policy of “just-in time” in respect of deliveries, and co-ordinated the more major elements of work, for the school holiday dates.

The head teacher, Karl Hornsby said “We’ve got a Victorian school, it’ 100 years old, it’s a really nice building, but the new one is just more inspiring – it’s just nice to have something that is modern and new to work in. Two of the classrooms are being used by Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, whilst the others will be used for children requiring extra support”.