Midlands & East Anglia

Contract caters for special needs

A £3.7 million contract to construct a 12 bedroom residential school designed to meet the latest requirements for children with special needs, together with associated works, is progressing towards completion at Chinley Peak School in High Peak, Derbyshire, for Derbyshire County Council.

The project is being carried out because the existing residential accommodation, although structurally sound, has an institutional appearance and does not meet the latest residential requirements determined by OFSTED.

The project is being carried out by Main Contractors Mansell Construction.

The single storey 1,279 sq m residential building will have 12 bedrooms for long term residential use and short break care, communal and education rooms, staffing areas and ancillary facilities.

The gable ends of the building are constructed from natural sandstone, with the flanks in brickwork with a rendered finish, interspersed with glazed panels. The rendered sections of the building are finished in a variety of colours including white, cream, blue and green, with the roof in natural slate incorporating roof glazing.

The new building incorporates a number of renewable technologies including solar glazing, solar water heating and rainwater harvesting.

This phased contract also comprises refurbishment of an existing accommodation building which will be used as a training facility, and the reconfiguration of a local garden centre and allotments to make way for a new access road to the new school facilities. The road is being created off the site’s existing access road system. In addition, existing on-site car parking is being reconfigured and new car parking areas are being created to the north and west of the residential building to provide an additional 49 car parking spaces.

The scheme also includes extensive landscaping, including the creation of a new playing field and the relocation of an existing pond, with flora and fauna transplanted to the new location. Trees and hedges will be protected throughout the project and a number of bird and barn owl boxes will be provided to ensure the existing wildlife remains undisturbed.

Completion is expected in November 2011.

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Roma Publications