RECYCLED MODULAR SOLUTION ALLOWS SIXTH FORM COLLEGE TO BENEFIT FROM MORE CLASSROOMS

Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, the UK’s largest supplier of refurbished Portakabin buildings, has handed over a new teaching block at St John Rigby College near Wigan. The use of recycled building modules allowed the sixth form college to benefit from a larger building and more classrooms for the available budget.

The two-storey scheme, which provides 11 classrooms for social sciences and two IT suites, was craned into position in just three days during school holidays, minimising any disruption to the college. The modular solution reduced the programme time to just 30 weeks, enabling the tight deadline for its funding requirements to be met.

The building features brise soleil sun shading, a canopy over the main entrance, timber cladding, and a contrasting white finish for a crisp and contemporary appearance.

Commenting on the project, Allan Keating, Director of Finance, Funding and Estates at St John Rigby College, said, “We received funding to improve our facilities but both site-based construction and new modular building couldn’t provide the additional capacity we needed for the available budget. The Foremans approach proved to be more cost-effective for a bigger building but with no compromise on the quality of the accommodation.”

“At the outset, we visited another sixth form centre built by Foremans and were pleasantly surprised by just what is possible with recycled modules. You would never know this is a refurbished building. Staff and students are very happy and it has provided a much needed and much improved learning environment. Foremans worked closely with us to develop the design to our specific requirements and were able to meet our tight deadline for the project. The opening of the new building coincided with our best ever examination results and we believe the quality of the new teaching accommodation will contribute to further improvements in the future.”

St John Rigby College is a Catholic sixth form college in the Orrell district of Wigan. Its facilities include high specification science laboratories and art studios, and one of the largest synthetic playing surfaces in the country.

Foremans has extensive experience in providing high quality accommodation to primary and secondary schools, further education and sixth form colleges, and universities. It offers a wide range of modular building solutions, from interim classrooms for short-term use to fully refurbished teaching blocks and extensions to existing schemes.

The Foremans approach will reduce build programmes by up to 70% compared to site-based construction, allowing schools and colleges to meet urgent place planning issues and deadlines for funding. In order to meet individual project requirements and budgets, the buildings can be supplied decorated or fully refurbished with new windows, wall linings, partitions, mechanical and electrical services, doors, flooring and cladding.

For further information about refurbished Portakabin buildings for schools, academies and colleges,

visit www.foremansbuildings.info, email [email protected], or call 01964 544344.