North East & Yorkshire Premier Construction

Oughtibridge Primary School

Oughtibridge Primary School
Written by Roma Publications

Oughtibridge Primary School

The construction of Oughtibridge Primary School in South Yorkshire is nearing a close with an expected completion date of July this year.

Works began on site in April with Roan Building Solutions acting as the main contractor overseeing the delivery of the £1.5 million, two storey educational facility.

Working in partnership with the school and Sheffield City Council, Roan has created a new 222m2 building on the school’s existing car park.  The school, when completed, will comprise two new classrooms on the ground floor with adjoining toilets and cloakrooms, head teacher’s office, staff room and intervention room on the upper floor.

Roan has installed a new steel-framed polycarbonate canopy to cover the ground floor classroom entrance which will create a 440m2 enclosed play area.

Roan was appointed to act as the main contractor following a fully comprehensive, competitive tender in which they exceeded the schools evaluation criteria and provided an in-depth knowledge of how modular could meet the school’s needs.  Roan’s knowledge of the local area, ability to map the impact on the surrounding community and reduce carbon emissions all became deciding factors in the contract award.

Oughtibridge Primary School

Pat Munt, head teacher at Oughtibridge Primary School, commented:

“Competition for school places is high and we have the space to accommodate more children without compromising the high quality of education.

“However, time is of the essence and a modular build was the perfect solution due to its low cost and fast installation.  We needed a design and build partner who understood the logistical challenges of being in a rural area as well as the need to keep disruption to a minimum and have tight control of the budget.

“Roan is based just 10 minutes away and knowing that some of the build team live locally to the school is a huge benefit as they personally understand the challenges.”

On site piling started in April 2015 and with the completion date in July the initial design to completion will take just 13 weeks. The majority of the work will take place out of school time to minimise disruption to teachers, pupils as well as the local community.

Oughtibridge Primary is one of nine schools Roan is working with this year to date. Other projects currently underway include Granard Primary School in Wandsworth and Tonbridge Grammar School in Deakin Leas.

With the urgent need to accommodate extra pupils, modular construction methods are becoming a popular choice among schools as Matt Goff, sales director at Roan Building Solutions, explains:

“880,000 extra school places are going to be needed across the UK by 2023 at a cost of around £12 billion which is going to take some schools to near breaking point as they are already working to reduced budgets.

“Forward-thinking schools such as Oughtibridge Primary know that they need to create places quickly and at the right price which is why offsite buildings are becoming the build method of choice.

“With on site build times from just eight weeks, schools need to look to new construction methods to get the desired result with minimal disruption.  This contract has particular significance as both the site manager and I live close to Oughtibridge and we want to be proud of what has been achieved.”

 

About the author

Roma Publications