01 July 2013
Portakabin Awarded £8m Contract by Surrey County Council to Meet the Urgent Need for School Places
Portakabin, the UK's leading modular building manufacturer, has been awarded a major contract by Surrey County Council to provide around 20 new classroom buildings to help meet the rising demand for primary school places in the region.
This is the fourth year Portakabin, who are on Surrey's framework contract, has been awarded an annual programme of modular building, which is valued at in excess of £8m for 2013.
Designed and constructed to permanent building standards and in line with the latest Department for Education guidelines for teaching and learning, spacious classrooms for 330 children at 11 different schools will be delivered by Portakabin in time for the start of the 2013/14 academic year. A further six classrooms for 180 children will be provided for the 2014/15 school year. Out-of-date temporary classrooms at 10 schools will also be replaced with new state-of-the-art teaching accommodation.
All the buildings will be finished to the highest standards, with architectural detailing such as cedar cladding, brickwork and pitched roofs to complement existing facilities on each school site, and high performance concrete floors for enhanced acoustic performance.
At Ravenscote Community Junior School in Camberley, Portakabin will be constructing a double classroom block and two purpose-designed music rooms. Pupils at Oakwood School in Horley will benefit from a new drama block which will be fitted out with specialist equipment and finishes, a concrete floor for a high level of acoustic performance, lamp diffusers and blackout blinds.
Commenting on the appointment, Bill Christie, Project Manager (Schools) at Surrey County Council, said, "We have appointed Portakabin because we felt they could deliver buildings of the very highest quality to meet our stringent requirements for teaching accommodation. We also needed a supplier that will complete each project precisely on programme as our deadline for completion in time for the start of the new academic year is critical and immovable. Having worked with Portakabin for a number of years, we are confident in their ability to deliver on time, every time."
"The use of modular construction also radically reduces both disruption to teaching and time on site which are essential factors when we have to meet such an urgent requirement for additional school places."
It has been estimated that more than 250,000 new school places will have to be created nationally by 2014/15 which will have a huge impact on education facilities across the country.
Each Portakabin classroom building can be fitted out to accommodate a wide variety of applications, such as science laboratories, art rooms, dance studios, food technology rooms, IT suites, general classrooms, school or college receptions, kitchen and dining facilities, and administrative offices.
For further information about modular buildings for permanent and interim applications, visit www.portanews.co.uk, email information@portakabin.co.uk or call 0845 401 0020.
Editor's Notes
1. Portakabin modular buildings offer a wide range of advantages over site-based construction, including:
- Programme times reduced by up to 50 per cent
- Less work on site to reduce disruption to teaching
- Much greater assurance of delivery on time and on budget
- Buildings manufactured to engineering rather than construction tolerances for improved quality
- A wide variety of aesthetic and fitting out options to provide the optimum learning environment.
2. Portakabin is a registered trademark.
