"The construction aspects of the scheme were very good, with Gary's management on site and the smooth running of the site and early finish within budget."
Andrew Dunne, Capital Projects Officer, Wigan Council
The new £942k unit at Landgate School was the result of a review of specialist provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) undertaken by Wigan Council in a wide reaching consultation exercise.
The new unit allows for school expansion to cater for up to 70 children between the ages of 4 and 19. The objectives of the project included improving pupil welfare, reducing pupil travelling times to ASD facilities, in borough provision, continuation of local community links, better support transition with local services and support agencies, continuity of education provision from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5 and to achieve maximum benefit of staff expertise.
The design was undertaken by NPS (North West) Ltd, the Council's design partners with construction knowledge input from Cruden Construction during the pre-construction phase. The design, the construction method and the programme all took account of the requirement for the existing school to remain operational throughout the works.
A major feature of the project was to safely and securely segregate the construction works; the site was formerly school playing fields; from the existing school. High security measures were required to ensure pupils could not find entry points into the site. A client requirement that was complied with willingly was that our Site Manager was CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checked.
There was daily liaison between the school Headmistress, the architect and our Site Manager to ensure that the school was fully appraised on the progress of the works, that they had a complete understanding of planned activities, that safety, security issues were not breached and that disruption to the order of the school was minimised. Transport deliveries were scheduled to avoid peak hours for the local bus route and were scheduled out of school hours.
Modern ICT solutions are incorporated in the design. These include wireless and hard wire ICT systems for future proofing and interactive whiteboards and overhead projectors in each of the 8 classrooms. The rooms are light, well ventilated with a sense of order with display boards for the children to decorate. The new unit is linked by a secure playground to the existing school and entrance is controlled by a new CCTV system
Outcomes:
KPI 1- Client Satisfaction for Product Service and Deliver - 8/10
KPI 2- Client Satisfaction for Service - 8/10
KPI 3- Client Satisfaction for Delivery - 8/10
KPI Accidents - RIDDOR Accidents – Nil
Time Predictability – completed 2 weeks early than contract programme.
Cost Predictability – completed for the Agreed Maximum price.