A £14.6 million project to create a new building for Sarum Academy continues to make good progress.
The multi-million pound scheme will transform the lives of pupils through the provision of new classrooms, a 330-seat theatre, a hair and beauty salon and computer suites. In addition, the new building will provide facilities aimed at teaching motor mechanics, whilst new sports pitches will also be provided for community use.
Work began on the project in early 2012 and once complete the new facilities will accommodate sixth form pupils and bring numerous state of the art provisions to the west of Salisbury.
The work on Sarum Academy – formerly known as Salisbury High School – is being project managed by Wiltshire Council with a funding grant provided by the Education Funding Agency. Sir Robert McAlpine is the main contractor on the project, with local architects Cube Design Ltd of Ringwood providing all architectural services.
The design of Sarum Academy makes use of the ‘school within a school’ concept – the Academy’s ethos – which gives pupils a sense of family within the school. The design incorporates the existing sports hall, whilst the former reception building will be fully refurbished to provide new facilities.
A particular feature of the new building is the glazed shared learning areas which lead to ICT classrooms. The glazed areas take advantage of the stunning views of the south of the site.
The work being conducted on Sarum Academy is currently on schedule to reach completion in time for the new September 2013 term. Sir Robert McAlpine will remain on site until February 2014 in order to demolish some old buildings on the site and to complete some associated landscaping work.
Ruth Johnson, Head of Sarum Academy, said:
“This is an historic moment for this community and we look forward to the amazing educational opportunities the new academy will bring. The whole Academy is thrilled with this – we are working with Jane and Sir Robert McApline and the design gives us a building that is educationally inspiring. There is no doubt it will transform the community.”
Once work is completed on the project a fantastic state of the art school will be created, which will be beneficial for students.
Founded through a partnership between the Church of England, Bryanston School, Wiltshire Council and Bath Spa University, Sarum Academy is a Church of England Academy. The Academy is grounded in Christian values and values the care and education of all its pupils.
Sarum Academy specialises in maths and the arts and looks towards the local community for both support and challenges. The Academy provides exceptional care and sees lifelong learning, achievement and aspiration as the cornerstone of its operations.
For more information about Sarum Academy, please visit: www.sarumacademy.org.
Hufcor UK Ltd
Hufcor UK Ltd specialises in the manufacture, supply and installation of Movable Wall Systems, which include operable walls, operable glass walls, vertically rising walls and accordion walls. The company works in all commercial sectors, with the majority of its work taking place in the hotel, leisure, education and commercial office sectors.
Hufcor UK Ltd is a subsidiary of Hufcor Incorporated which was established in 1900 and in this time the company understandably established a vast wealth of experience in its field. Recent projects include the Christies Hospital in Manchester; the Nuneaton Academy in Nuneaton; Bolingbroke Academy in Runcorn.
Working on The Sarum Academy, Hufcor UK Ltd supplied and installed six operable walls, five in the ‘Petal’ teaching rooms and one in the main hall.
Hufcor UK Ltd Manager Peter Slaney said:
“Over the past six months, we have been growing our business steadily, particularly in the education sector. A measure of our success has been the number of repeat orders from the contractors who we work with and we look forward to continuing this trend to become recognised as one of the best contractors to appoint for this line of work.”
Peter added:
“We are now looking at developing markets for additional products in our portfolio, particularly our ‘Summit’ vertically rising partition.”
