Education in the frame
Steelwork’s speed of construction and flexibility have both come to the fore
on an education project in Cumbria.
Two schools in Whitehaven,
Cumbria will soon be sharing new
state-of-the-art premises that also
incorporate an array of community
accessible sports facilities.
Known as Campus Whitehaven, it will
bring together St Benedict’s Catholic High
School and special education needs (SEN)
school, Mayfield, into two brand new
buildings at the former’s existing site in
Hensingham, Whitehaven.
The project, which is due for completion
in August 2019, has a £28M value and has
been funded by investment from a range of
partners, including Copeland Community
Fund, Cumbria County Council, the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and
Sellafield Ltd.
“This remarkable project has incredible
potential to transform the education of
young people in Whitehaven and improve
the health and wellbeing of the whole
community,” says Cabinet Member for
Economic Development and Property
Councillor David Southward.
As well as an indoor sports hall, fitness
suite and a hydrotherapy pool, a range of
outdoor facilities will be available to the
local community during non-school hours.
These include multi-use sports pitches,
one of which will have an all-weather 4G
surface.
Main contractor Wates Construction
started on-site during May 2017 and,
after some earthworks to prepare the
former sports pitches in readiness for the
construction works, foundations were
installed which then allowed steelwork
erection to begin in June.
“We erected the entire 700t steel frame in
11 weeks, which amounted to some 3,500
individual pieces,” says Border Steelwork
Structures BSS Contracts Director Stuart
Airey.
Despite some very inclement weather
– as unfortunately the Cumbrian coast is
prone to a fair amount of precipitation – the
steelwork was still able to complete a week
ahead of schedule. This then allowed BSS
to continue with the other elements of its
package, such as installing precast floor slabs
and roof decking.
“That’s one of the advantages of steel, it is
quick to erect and only high winds, which
we didn’t really get, will halt its progress,”
says Wates Senior Project Manager Simon
Humphrey.
“I’ve been involved in a number of steel
construction jobs in the past and this one
has been one of the most well organised.
The trick is to order the steel early and get
the fabrication started as soon as possible to
iron out any snags, and this is precisely what
we did.”
Completing the steel frame quickly
allowed the follow-on trades to get an early
start, helping to achieve the project team’s
aim of creating a watertight structure before
the onset of winter.
The Campus has been designed with
a focus on using intelligent planning
to produce a creative and collaborative
Education
The entrance area
culminates in a beaklike
feature element
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February 18
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