16 March 2016
Foremans Awarded £1.6m Contract to Expand One of the Top-performing Secondary Schools in England
Foremans Awarded £1.6m Contract to Use Recycled Building Modules to Expand One of the Top-performing Secondary Schools in England
Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, a member of the Portakabin Group and the UK's largest supplier of refurbished Portakabin buildings, has been awarded a £1.6 million contract to build a purpose-designed sixth form centre at Higham Lane School in Nuneaton.
Higham Lane is the joint highest-performing state-funded secondary school in Warwickshire, and has performed within the top 100 of all secondary schools in England. The new building, which is now under construction by Foremans, will allow the school to provide a high quality, direct, post-16 progression route for its students for the first time, maintaining standards and outcomes far above national levels.
The sixth form centre will be built by Foremans using 52 recycled and refurbished steel-framed modules. The two-storey building will be delivered in less than six months from receipt of order to be open in time for the school's first intake of sixth form students in September this year. Cranage of the refurbished modular structure is being timed for the school holidays to minimise any disruption to teaching.
This is Foremans' 11th school project with education construction consultants Surveyors to Education who are designers and contract administrators for the scheme.
The building will feature large amounts of glazing for a high level of natural light, with brick cladding to complement neighbouring facilities, and areas of bright red rainscreen cladding to reflect the school's colours.
Commenting on the project, Ben Elliott, Director of Corporate Services at Higham Lane School said, "There is a shortage of quality sixth form provision in our area and feedback from students has indicated a strong preference to stay on and study for A-levels at Higham Lane School."
"The Foremans pre-owned approach offers us significant benefits - it is very cost effective and the building will look brand new once it is completed. It is giving us more certainty to have the new sixth form up and running by September because the majority of fitting out takes place off site. Knowing that Foremans is a member of the Portakabin Group gave us even greater peace of mind along with their excellent relationship with Surveyors to Education."
Martin Hier, Director at Surveyors to Education said, "The school wants this to be a statement building which will also blend in well with existing facilities. It is designed to meet the specific requirements of sixth form learning, which includes teaching spaces to accommodate smaller groups."
"We have a strong and long-standing relationship with the Foremans team and enjoy pushing the boundaries on each new education scheme we collaborate on. We take a standard building solution and enhance it to meet the school's requirements - whether that is for aesthetics or as here, specific classroom sizes."
"We would definitely recommend recycled modular buildings to other schools and colleges. The approach is very sustainable because we are re-using an existing building structure - which is still in perfect condition, and at the same time we can reduce lead times and carbon emissions. Foremans modular buildings are also really flexible so layouts can be reconfigured to meet changing local needs."
The Higham Lane sixth form centre will accommodate up to 300 16-19 year-old students and will have 17 seminar rooms, an art room, two science laboratories, and common room with café area.
Foremans' 10 previous projects with Surveyors to Education have included a two-storey school complex at Billingbrook School in Northampton and a single-storey community college building with five classrooms and an IT hub at Winstanley College in Wigan.
For further information about refurbished Portakabin buildings, visit www.foremansbuildings.co.uk, email info@foremansbuildings.co.uk, or call 01964 544344.
Editor's Notes
1. The advantages of recycled and refurbished Portakabin buildings from Foremans include:
- Modular buildings configured to the exact specification for each project, and fitted with completely new windows, wall linings, partitions, M&E services, doors and flooring, creating quality accommodation for a wide range of applications
- A highly cost-effective alternative to new build to make capital budgets go further
- Programme times for high quality buildings reduced by up to 70 per cent compared to site-based construction and up to 30 per cent in comparison with new build modular
- High quality steel-framed modular buildings that are built to last and require fewer ground works than site-based construction - further reducing cost, disruption and programme times
- Ease of expansion, reconfiguring or removal for complete flexibility should requirements change.
2. Foremans is a member of the Portakabin Group.
3. Foremans, Portakabin and Portakabin Group are registered trademarks. 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.
