St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School

						
							Solution						

							Permanent

						
							Size 						

							Three storey, 18 modules, 665 m²

						
							Install time						

							4 Days

The Brief

To extend the school building quickly to accommodate for new pupil intake. Located in Barnet, North London, St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School prides itself on academic excellence and pupils’ personal development. Enrolling over 90 new students each year, the school is formed of a secondary girls grammar and mixed sixth form.

As part of a long-term development programme, the school is increasing its student intake year-on-year, so additional teaching spaces were urgently required. Following a successful planning application, St Michael’s needed a construction partner that could provide a full-turnkey solution, including demolition of an existing building, service diversions, design, and handover of a new classroom block.

The new building needed to provide an energy efficient space, complete with features to help the school meet its sustainability targets. Additionally, at the request of the local community, a mosaic art installation inside the old school building had to be preserved whilst demolition took place. The project also needed to be delivered on a tightly constrained site without disrupting pupils’ education or the local neighbourhood. To achieve this at speed and within budget, we were appointed to design and build a new modular classroom block fit for future generations of students.

The Building Features

Housed within a three-storey modular structure, St Michael’s new modular classroom block comprised six high quality classrooms, toilet blocks, a teacher’s office on each floor, and an internal lift. To comply with planning permission, an external plant room was redesigned to be housed internally, improving visual appearance and reducing noise impact.

Externally, the design needed to respect and complement the existing school architecture. At ground floor level the building is finished in brick, with red/brown and grey rainscreen cladding on the upper floors to mirror other blocks across the campus.

Using our offsite techniques, we created a sustainable place for students and teachers to learn and work. Lay to fall roof insulation covered with single ply roof blanket and high efficiency NP solar panels were incorporated to improve energy efficiency and support the school’s sustainability goals.

Features of the building include:

Preservation of a mosaic of St Michael the Archangel, considered a valuable mid-20th century artwork, which was safeguarded following strong community interest.
7m ceiling heights to create light, airy classrooms and a high-quality learning environment.
Integration of existing school services, with temporary diversions during demolition and full reintegration into the new block to avoid downtime.
Dedicated plant room and server room, ensuring resilience of existing systems.
Cladding and roofing that blended with neighbouring buildings whilst also enhancing thermal efficiency.
High efficiency NP solar panels, supporting the school’s sustainability strategy and lowering future running costs.
Accessibility and landscaping enhancements, including a fully compliant internal lift, DDA-compliant ramped access, and new landscaped areas at the entrance.