New school for Derbyshire residential development

Work is nearing completion on Drakelow Primary School, a steel-framed educational facility that will serve a 2,200-home residential estate, which is being built on the site of a former power station near Burton upon Trent.

Designed by ONE Creative Environments, working closely with main contractor Clegg Construction, the school is said to be sustainably located at the heart of the housing development, and adjacent to the forthcoming local centre, where parking will be provided in the future.

Gorge Fabrications has fabricated, supplied and erected 110t of steelwork for the project.

The 420-pupil school has been designed to be flexible in use and meet a range of requirements. The ground floor classrooms will open onto outdoor teaching spaces and the main play area.

Built around a regular column grid pattern, the main two-storey building has two rows of classrooms on each floor, separated by a central corridor.

The first floor was formed with steel beams supporting precast planks, while the roof is metal decked.

Attached to the main teaching block, the main hall is a double-height space with clear spans of 11.3m-long.

Michael Sims, Managing Director at Clegg Construction, said: “We are very pleased to be delivering this new primary school on the site of the former Drakelow Power Station. It will be an important addition to the local community.”

Steve Mintchev, Director at Gorge Fabrications, said: “We’re delighted to be building on our long experience in delivering steel-framed education projects. This scheme highlights the speed, precision and flexibility that steel offers, and it’s rewarding to see our work contributing to a high-quality school that will serve the growing Drakelow community.”