Steel gives lessons in design
24 NSC
July/Aug 19
Educational opportunities in Kent
are about to get a significant
boost as a secondary school,
offering what is said to be a unique
learning curriculum, is under construction.
Due to open its doors to students in the
Autumn of 2020, the School of Science &
Technology Maidstone is being developed
by the Valley Invicta Academies Trust
(VIAT) with the support of its strategic
partner, SST Singapore.
According to the Trust, students will
benefit from an education specialising in
science and technology in purpose-built,
state-of-the-art buildings, which will allow
graduates to leave with a highly desirable
combination of outstanding exam results
and a unique skill set.
The new school is being built on a
greenfield site on the VIAT campus in
Maidstone, which already includes two
secondary schools.
Starting on-site in November 2018, main
contractor BAM’s initial task was to install
access roads, to not only serve its own site,
but also an adjacent plot where a steelframed
sports hall is being built by another
construction team.
Once the roads were ready, BAM then
had to undertake a large-scale earthmoving
operation to level the previously sloping
plot.
Extensive groundworks were also
required before erection of the steel frame
could begin.
“A geophysical mapping procedure was
undertaken, as the ground is a mixture of
soft clay and hard ragstone areas. We had to
identify where the soft areas were exactly,
so we could consolidate these parts of the
ground,” says BAM Project Manager James
Gray.
Once the ground consolidation had been
completed, pad foundations were installed
to support the steel frame.
A steel-framed solution was chosen
for the school building as it offered the
quickest construction programme, allowing
the many follow-on trades the opportunity
to get started as soon as possible.
Elland Steel completed the steel erection
in 10 weeks, and then installed 8,000m2 of
precast flooring planks, along with precast
staircases during a further five-week
programme.
Mr Gray says a precast solution for the
two upper floors and roof was the preferred
method as it offered an economic way
to bridge the internal spans, which are
predominantly up to 8m-long in most
areas. Another advantage for the site team
was the fact that precast plank installation
requires no propping, which means it is
a quick procedure and there are fewer
materials and equipment on site.
The underside of the precast planks, the
supporting cellular beams as well as the
services, will all be left exposed within the
completed school, giving the building the
desired modern, industrial-looking interior.
Steel construction’s speed and ease of delivery has
proven to be of upmost importance to the project
team building a new academy in Kent.
Education
Steelwork supporting
precast planks was
chosen as the most
economic solution
FACT FILE
School of Science &
Technology Maidstone,
Kent
Main client:
Department of
Education
Architect: KSS
Main contractor:
BAM Construction
Structural engineer:
Kirksaunders Associates
Steelwork contractor:
Elland Steel Structures
Steel tonnage: 570t
/Education_buildings
/Construction
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Braced_frames
/The_case_for_steel#Speed_of_construction
/Floor_systems#Precast_units
/Steel_construction_products#Cellular_beams