London & South East

New nursery and clinic for Westminster community

A building has been stripped back to its core and returned to the community as a Ā£3 million centre with a nursery, primary care clinics and offices.

T&B Contactors were tasked to deliver the five-storey refurbished Bessborough Street Nursery and Clinic for Westminster Council, with the design being carried out by architects Ingleton Wood.

The basement will consist of meeting rooms, toilets, building storage areas and primary care facilities; the ground floor will see a nursery, a new learning environment for 50 children, three new play areas, a new sensory room and a childrenā€™s health clinic.

The nursery will have direct access to the rear garden, while the second and third floors will be occupied by childrenā€™s accommodation and family services provided by Westminster City Council.

The first floor will house a primary care clinic with a number of consulting rooms, toilets for disabled people, a kitchen, breast feeding areas and a reception area; while the second and third floors will be available for general office use.

Alan Darrah, of T and B Contractors, said the work consisted of stripping the building back to its core, including the walls, floors and ceilings, and then extensive re-plastering, mechanical and electrical installations and complete internal reconfiguration.

Externally, the works comprised cleaning of the brickwork using a Doff cleaning system and the laying of new coverings on the main roof and to balconies on the first second and third floors.

The most difficult aspect of the job said Mr Darrah was the installation of basement piling for a new lift shaft serving all floors.

The building has been fitted out with metal framed windows throughout, while the external brickwork has been cleaned of grime using the Doff cleaning system.

The building, funded by the council and NHS Westminster, is expected to be completed by the end of July, this year.

Currently the work is at the finishing stage including internal decoration, tiling and mechanical and commissioning of mechanical and electrical services.

Bessborough Nursery is a setting linked to the Churchill Gardens Childrenā€™s Centre and serving children and families in the community across Tachbrook, Churchill, Warwick and St Vincents wards.

T&B Contractors is an established building contractor operating throughout the Northern Home Counties, Essex, Cambridge and the London area. Its three operating divisions: Main Contracting, Special Works and City Division have proven track records within the construction industry.

T&B has the capacity to undertake works from Ā£25k to Ā£5m in value within both the public and private market sectors and is a long-established main building contractor delivering contracts for a wide range of clients throughout London, The Home Counties, Essex, Cambridge and Northampton.

Ingleton & Co and John S Wood began practicing in the mid 1930s. In the 1960s they merged under the name of Ingleton Wood which, since that time, has grown into a multi-disciplinary building consultancy.

It is one of a few medium-sized consultancies offering integrated design and technical skills. From offices in London, Billericay, Colchester and Norwich, their services include architecture, building surveying, planning, services engineering and interior design.

They manage large-scale new-build and refurbishment projects from initial concept planning through to the design and fit-out of interior spaces.

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