15 June 2015
Portakabin Hire Helps to Meet Unprecedented Demand for Primary and Secondary School Places
Portakabin Hire, the UK's leading supplier of interim modular buildings, is seeing unprecedented demand for primary and secondary teaching accommodation. In just three years, there has been a growth of more than 170 per cent in the Division's education business across the UK.
High levels of international migration, increasing birth rates and the development of new housing are putting severe pressure on primary and now secondary school places nationwide, with acute rises being seen in London, the South East and in major cities.
Figures from London councils have revealed that 133,000 new school places will need to be created in the city's boroughs by 2018, and 497,000 additional places are required nationally.
Following the success of a project at Westgate School in Winchester, Hampshire County Council has awarded three new contracts to Portakabin Hire to provide additional primary school places from September 2015 for short-term use, while permanent teaching accommodation is constructed. Hampshire has very high levels of new housing to the north of the county which is close to the M4 corridor and within an hour's commute from London. This has created increased pressure on primary school places in the region.
The interim classrooms are necessary to accommodate children while Hampshire County Council develops permanent school extensions and carries out improvements to existing buildings.
Poulner Infants School in Ringwood, St James CE Primary School in Southampton and Trosnant Junior School in Havant will each benefit from a high quality double classroom building from Portakabin Hire which will be in use for two years during the building projects.
At Westgate School, Portakabin provided an interim primary school for 60 children, comprising a hall, two classrooms, a covered outdoor learning area, playground and storage hut. These decant facilities were used while the main school facilities were extended to become Hampshire's first 4-16 'all through' school.
Commenting on the project, Stuart Adlam, Lower School Leader at Westgate School said, "Portakabin performed really well and with a fast turn-around time which allowed the facilities to be installed in a very short period before the end of the school year, giving parents the opportunity to see them at first hand."
"The building was sufficiently flexible to be used by our reception year and for breakfast and after-school clubs. The teaching accommodation looked good, allowed easy access to the outdoor space and was light, airy, spacious, well ventilated and comfortable. Parents were surprised and impressed with the quality of the accommodation. The interim facilities served their purposes very well and we would definitely recommend the solution to other schools needing decant classroom buildings."
The provision of high quality interim teaching accommodation is a highly effective solution that more schools and local authorities are turning to. The approach allows them to react quickly to peaks in the requirement for places, which can be very difficult to predict, and to provide alternative accommodation for pupils when it is necessary for building projects to continue during term time.
By providing classrooms of the very highest standards and with a design life of at least 60 years, buildings from Portakabin Hire help to ensure that there is no compromise on the quality of the learning environment.
The facilities can be configured and fitted out to the exact requirements of each individual school - as learning clusters, standalone teaching blocks and generously-sized, light, modern classrooms. The buildings can be linked to the existing school; the floor area can be increased or reduced in line with local demographic needs, and the accommodation can remain in use for as long as needed.
By completing most of the construction work off site, Portakabin Hire can deliver classroom buildings to very short programmes, ensuring much less disruption to teaching. Installation works can also be timed for the school holidays, to be ready ahead of the new academic year or for use as decant facilities while new schools or extensions are developed.
For further information about interim education buildings to address place planning issues in primary and secondary schools, visit www.portanews.co.uk, email information@portakabin.co.uk or call 0845 401 0010.
Editor's Notes
1. Accommodation solutions for schools from Portakabin Hire provide:
- Buildings delivered with much less disruption to teaching
- A wide variety of aesthetic and fitting out options to reduce procurement time and improve the learning environment
- Spacious and light classrooms
- Programme times reduced by up to 50 per cent
- Enhanced quality and a robust steel-framed construction suitable for the most demanding school situation
- A sustainable alternative to site-based building methods - less waste, improved building performance and fewer vehicle movements to site
- An even wider range of architectural options and amenities such as free-standing canopies and shelters, vinyl wraps, covered walkways, outdoor classrooms, cycle storage, street furniture and play equipment.
2. Portakabin is a registered trademark which must only be used to refer to modular buildings that are known to have been manufactured by the Portakabin Group. Please note, Portakabin is not a generic term.
