Midlands & East Anglia

Jeavons Wood Primary School

Cambourne 3rd Primary school

The new Jeavons Wood Primary School in Great Cambourne will provide 420 new places when it opens for the autumn term in September 2012.

Constructed around an area of stunning woodland, the steel-frame school features masonry walls with brick work, render and cedar cladding. The school is spread over one storey and comprises around 2750 square metres of space, which has in turn incorporated 14 classrooms, community facilities and a children’s centre. Sustainable features include a ground source heat pump that will facilitate underfloor heating and the replanting of any trees cut down during the construction phase.

Additional features that have been proposed include a new hall, activity room and a large atrium area that can be tailored to suite a range of facilities such as a library or an ICT area. The space may also be used for activities, assemblies, performances and exhibition space or be utilised as an alternative learning environment.

Main contractor for the project is Kier Eastern and the architect is Mouchel. The £6.4 million project began in June 2011 and has been funded by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Cambourne 3rd Primary school

In order to allow the construction phase to commence, a temporary 180-place primary school was erected on a nearby site. The temporary school has incorporated an innovative timber flat-pack prefabricated design and Mouchel was able to deliver the four new classrooms in just 26 weeks. This in turn has significantly reduced the amount of construction waste and vehicle issues associated with traditional design and build projects.

Mirjana Corovic, Mouchel, said:

“This has been an extremely challenging project and it has been a long journey for all of us. However everyone – including the client, developers and contractors – has worked as a team from day one.

“Challenges have included retaining the majority of the existing trees and the creation of alternative construction access points, both of which have been dealt with successfully.

“As a result of the great progress, we are confident that the project will be finished in time for children to move in for the new school year. It has been a pleasure to be part of this project, which will bring over four hundred primary school places to Eastgate.”

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Roma Publications