Derwent Primary School

Location: Henlow, Bedfordshire

Derwent Primary School

This project was one of the first on Central Bedfordshire Council’s ‘Schools for the Future’ programme. Work was completed in two phases. The first focused on a traditional two-storey teaching block and reception extension with associated external works and infrastructure. The second looked at the refurbishment of existing buildings, while extensive soft landscaping seamlessly tied the existing school to its new facilities.

Client

Central Bedfordshire Council

Completed

Approximate Value

£6.7M

Completion Date

December 2022

Sector

Education

Contract Type

JCT Traditional Contracts with Contractor Design Portions

Two-storey teaching block

External works and infrastructure

Multi-use-games-area

New car park with EV charging

Soft landscaping with pond

Our Responsibilities

At the time, this was SMD’s biggest project to date. The first phase consisted of a traditional two-storey teaching block and reception block extension, which included the installation of astroturf play areas. The buildings provided students with new classrooms, such as a SEN room, food technology suite and sound-proofed music room.

The second phase focused on the refurbishment of an existing building, marrying the new reception extension to the original school building. This was followed by the associated external works including a MUGA, new car park, play area, pond and cycle shelter.

During the project, phasing and logistics had to be completely re-visited to accommodate the school’s handover and usage requirements. This was led and coordinated by SMD. There was also a substantial increase in scope to the existing school which required additional planning and resources.

SMD presented a significant value engineering exercise to omit structural building fabric works, which saved the project time, money and risk.

In Summary

Two-storey teaching block
Reception extension
Multi-use-games-area (MUGA)
Refurbishment of existing school, including hall and library
New car park construction with EV charging
External works and infrastructure
Cycle shelter
Soft landscaping with pond

Social Impact

Derwent Primary School was a registered site with the Considerate Constructors Scheme, scoring Very Good (38/45) on the last site inspection. As a registered organisation and site, we focused activities on improving the environment for the benefit of the workforce and community within Henlow and the school. We provided clear branding throughout the whole site, as well as providing extra sundries to our workforce and the public – such as accessible UV stations.

SMD rolled out ‘Fresh fruit Fridays’ as well as providing a bike for sustainably travelling to and from the site. Our focus on the environment continued with the provision of bird and bat boxes, plus a donation of 500 sq m of trees to the National Trust.

The registered activity (RA) has established good communications with both the school and local residents (parents) which continue via face-to-face contact with the site manager, themed public facing community noticeboards, newsletters and regular meetings with the school. The RA has developed an environmental and sustainability policy and is also developing a quality system designed to meet the requirements of its ISO 14001:2015 registration. There is a defined plan to protect/ enhance the site’s natural environment.

David Duffield

CCS Monitor