Latest projects ease pressure on school places

Morgan Sindall Construction is continuing its successful partnership with the Southern Construction Framework (SCF) after completing major works on another two schools on the south coast.

The tier one contractor completed a £9m extension at Calthorpe Park School in Fleet, Hampshire, and handed over the new £9m Hillbourne Primary School in Poole, Dorset.

Both schools were procured through the framework provider and follow on from over £800m of SCF projects that Morgan Sindall Construction has delivered in the last six years.

Hampshire continues to experience population growth and new housing which is driving demand for places at the highly regarded Calthorpe Park School. The major extension was completed for Hampshire County Council four weeks early and will provide an extra 300 new places for 11-16-year-olds. Calthorpe’s new two-storey block houses a dedicated maths department, as well as two state-of-the-art ICT classrooms. There is also a new specialist ceramics studio and communal dining area, increasing facilities for community use.

The extension also enhances the existing campus by providing landscaped green social spaces for outside dining, teaching and a performance space with a new amphitheatre for outside productions, whilst remodelling works were carried out to provide two new science labs and additional library space in the heart of the existing school.

In Poole, the newly completed two-storey Hillbourne Primary School has replaced the old school buildings on the site at Kitchener Crescent. Surplus land to the north and south will now be made available by BCP Council for new homes once the existing buildings have been demolished in the second phase of the project. The second phase of this project is currently being procured through the new SCF Residential & Development Framework, which launched in December. Morgan Sindall are proud to have also secured a place on this Framework.

Hillbourne is a modern fit-for purpose building with 14 classrooms, a practical room and learning resource centre, administration block, large hall with servery, a pre-school with a dedicated play area, two multi-use games areas and outdoor play areas including a purpose-built sports pitch and a staff car park. It features solar panels, mechanical ventilation in all classrooms, sprinkler systems and intelligent lighting.

Kingsley Clarke, Operations Lead for SCF, said: “We are pleased to have once again seen schools projects successfully delivered on behalf of our clients and the communities they serve. In the case of Hillbourne not only was the project a success but with the positive legacy left by Morgan Sindall we are continuing to work with the client on the further development of the area.

Clifford Kinch, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “Education is the bedrock of the community and investment in schools is essential to making our towns and cities sustainable in every sense. Our team is proud to have successfully delivered through SCF, working collaboratively with both clients, our supply chain and the local councils to deliver these much-needed school places. We hope that staff, pupils and parents at both schools enjoy their enhanced new environments.”