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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.
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:
Heritage preservation
One of challenge that we had to overcome was the preservation of a valuable mosaic, which was an existing feature of the building that was due to be demolished. The mosaic depicted St Michael the Archangel and is thought to date from the school’s 50th anniversary. The artwork was identified as a non-designated heritage asset and became the focal point of community consultation.
Our team has years of experience in using innovative ways to overcome unique site challenges. We worked closely with the council’s heritage officers to preserve the wall in situ. Protective hoardings were installed around the mosaic so it remained safeguarded for the duration of the works, ensuring it will be enjoyed by future generations.
Delivery to a constrained site
Surrounded by residential streets, with tree protection orders and extensive root networks onsite, space for construction compounds and material storage was extremely limited. For this site, a traditional build would have proven costly, difficult to construct, and disruptive.
This is where modular construction provided the school with an ideal solution. Delivery time restrictions of 9:30am–3:00pm were imposed by Barnet Council and M25 traffic management, but despite the narrow delivery windows, modules were successfully delivered and installed within four days. Careful planning made sure that resident access was maintained and the classroom block positioned exactly as required.
The site also had a number of tree preservation orders, which meant that careful delivery and storage of site equipment needed to take place. To meet the tree protection requirements, we stored materials and equipment in vans until installation, keeping the site clean, organised, and free from potential damage to the protected trees.
Minimising disruption
As a live secondary school, it was key that work was carried out with minimal disruption to teaching and pupils’ education, and also to the local neighbourhood residents.
We carefully managed demolition of the old structure, temporary relocation of critical school services, and integration into the new block with unrivalled speed, meaning that there was minimal disruption to pupils and the local community. Noise and dust were strictly controlled, deliveries were communicated in advance to residents via letter drops, and all works remained within agreed hours to minimise disturbance.
To find out more about our permanent building solutions, speak to our specialist team today.
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