Colville Primary School

Remodelling and extension

Ark Build was awarded this contract following the demise of the incumbent contractor who had undertaken investigative work and planning but had not started the main contract works on site.

Initially, our time was spent reviewing all design information, then undertaking ‘out of hours’ physical investigations of the existing school building including verification of the structure, surveys of above and below ground drainage and validation surveys of services installations.

Engendering trust with the school management team was pivotal to successful mobilisation and thereafter working collaboratively with them to plan and execute work in a live school environment where the safeguarding of children and staff was paramount. This required resilient segregation between school and contractor areas, stringent discipline to mitigate noise and dust migration, and defined times for delivery and collection of materials and waste.

The work comprised:

• A new build ground floor extension to create a new reception year class base including roof terrace and
  associated external works
• External boundary wall works.
• Ground floor refurbishment to provide new reception year class base and associated wcs/group room including all associated services and drainage installations.
• Structural works and installation of new doors to the dining hall
• Floor sanding and sealing to the existing halls and circulation areas.
• Lift installation to all floors including forming a new opening in the first-floor slab and associated trimming
  beams.

We adopted a flexible approach to execution of the work and issued weekly work after discussions with the school management team, to ensure safety and mitigate disruption to educational activities.

The outcome was extremely successful with the provision of smart new reception year internal and external facilities, upgrade of the services infrastructure and improved horizontal and vertical accessibility within the existing building.

Client: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Employer’s Agent: Currie and Brown
Contract Value: £2.2M
Contract Start Date: September 2019
Contract End Date: March 2021