Brief
Benison Associates were instructed by The Girls’ Day School Trust as Employer’s Agent and Project Manager for the design and construction of a proposed new two storey school building comprising three classrooms, toilets (including a disabled toilet), a cleaner’s room, storage and an external plant room. We were also appointed to carryout local adjoining owner and stakeholder consultations, completed planning and building control applications and fulfilled the role of Principal Designer under CDM 2015.
Project Value – Approximately £600,000.00
Design Specification
Benison Associates liaised with the Girls’ Day School Trust and Portsmouth High School and agreed that due to the school being occupied, access limitations and tight timeframes that a modular constructed building would be preferable; it was advised that this would significantly reduce the construction time on site and so reduce any resultant inconvenience to the school. Furthermore, due to the specialist field of modular buildings, it was agreed that the contractor would be awarded the design and build contract via a process of interviews and presentations.
Procurement Route
It was recommended that the proposed works would be carried out via a Design and Build procurement route whereby the Design and Build contractor would fully accept the design and cost risk. Benison Associates developed scheme proposal drawings and the Employer’s requirement documents. Modulek were appointed as the preferred modular building designer, provider/contractor.
General
Benison Associates were appointed for this project in April 2015 and the new building was constructed and fully occupied by Portsmouth High School in January 2016. The modular building was constructed off-site, delivered to site by large vehicles and craned into position in a single day. The total construction time on site (excluding the Christmas shut down period) was in the region of 6 weeks which did significantly reduce inconvenience and school logistical issues. The whole project was completed on time, within budget and greatly exceeded the client’s expectations regarding quality.
