- TOTAL COST
- £6.9M
- COMPLETED
- 2016
- DURATION
- 1Y 2W
- RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS
Project description
Etonbury Academy’s expansion enables it to accommodate an additional 410 children in Years 5 to 11, supporting Central Bedfordshire Council’s £100 million commitment to providing 6,500 new school places in the next five years.
The project includes the construction of a three-storey teaching block, staff room, dining room and four-court sports hall, plus refurbishments to the entrance, reception and administration area.
The team also constructed a new fitness centre, all-weather pitch and 95 new parking places, and created new bike spaces to double the amount available.
The project includes the construction of a three-storey teaching block, staff room, dining room and four-court sports hall, plus refurbishments to the entrance, reception and administration area.
The team also constructed a new fitness centre, all-weather pitch and 95 new parking places, and created new bike spaces to double the amount available.
Responsible business
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Enhancing communities
The team involved the school’s pupils and staff at every stage of the build, so that the project could be used as a learning experience. This included ‘walkarounds’ on site, and involvement in groundbreaking and topping out ceremonies.
The team also became involved in school life, handing out awards and taking assemblies.
A temporary zebra crossing was installed with a dedicated gateman (Winston), so that every day Winston could ensure the safe access and egress of staff, pupils and parents onto and off the campus. 
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Improving the environment
96 per cent of waste was diverted from landfill during the project and energy efficient cabins formed part of the site set up, saving energy and water.
During the landscaping works, the team were able to use a lot of the excavated material as newly designed bunds to help form the BMX track and amphitheatre. 
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Working together with our supply chain
As part of the value engineering work we worked with the headteacher to review the teaching space requirements, resulting in 100m2 of new build floor space due to rationalisation.
Before the project started on site the landscape design was also interrogated and earth bunds were designed to incorporate excavated materials. This saved £100K for our customer, helping them to gain an amphitheatre and BMX track.
Challenges
The new teaching block was constructed right at the heart of the live campus, next to existing teaching blocks and the sports field. The entrance to the school also had to be closed for some of the works, so the team constructed new entrance roads into the campus and a new car park at the start of the project, handing over early so that school access would be improved at the earliest stage.
In order to enable the school and public to begin using the sports centre as soon as possible, the team identified the programme of works and re-engineered the sequence to complete the sports centre four months early. Along with the new car park and entrance road, this enabled activities to begin in the centre ahead of the planned completion in May.
Testimonials
"I’ve recommended Morgan Sindall Construction to other headteachers. In a nutshell what I’ve said is they’re a professional team and they understand working with schools – that’s really important as a lot of contractors don’t.
Alex Prior
From my point of view, really where Morgan Sindall Construction have done a fantastic job, is enabling me to continue with my day job - they’ve really got on with things and haven’t created any difficulties that could pull my focus away from delivering a great school here.
They’ve delivered on time, they’ve delivered on budget, and they’ve done it without making my life, or the life of my senior team, difficult or complicated."
Principal, Etonbury Academy
