Framework takes shape quietly for Derby school

More than 1,200t of structural steelwork is being used to construct the new £34M campus for the Noel-Baker Community School in Derby.

Working on behalf of main contractor Balfour Beatty Construction Northern, the project will deliver completely new school buildings which will also be shared by St Martins Special School.

The existing Noel-Baker school buildings are located adjacent to the construction site while playgrounds, regularly used by pupils, separate the main new school structures from the on-going building work for the new sports hall.

Paul Nesbitt, Balfour Beatty Construction Northern Senior Project Manager, said: “We have fenced off the entire site and through continual consultation with the school, noise testing and the full cooperation of the sub-contractors, we’ve been able to minimise disruption to the pupils, which was especially important during the exams period.”

Steelwork contractor Robinson Steel Structures has designed, fabricated and erected all steelwork for the project, as well as installing precast flooring, metal decking and stairs.

The majority of the school buildings are linked in a linear pattern of clusters, based around atriums and open plan common areas. The St Martins part of the campus is a two-storey structure, while the remainder of the project – to be occupied by Noel-Baker – is predominantly three-storeys high.

The project also includes a stand-alone sports hall with an attached two-storey sector containing changing rooms, a viewing gallery and classrooms. The site will contain a new steel framed energy centre, housing a biomass boiler and a viewing area for students.