Modular manufacturer Elliott has completed the new Hatchlands Primary modular school in Redhill, Surrey in just 32 weeks, as part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Modular-A Primary School framework
Elliott was awarded the new modular school project because it demonstrated excellent value for money and was able to provide a full turn-key solution.
The modular manufacturer worked closely with award-winning designers DLA Architecture to create a contemporary high-performance building sympathetic to its environment.
Located adjacent to a conservation area on an urban brownfield site, offsite construction of the school used the Elliott Ibex permanent modular building system.
The modular buildings were delivered with a high pre-manufactured value ready for final finishing on site. This reduced the construction time by around 50% compared to a traditional on-site build.
The Ibex system is fully building regulations compliant with passive ventilation and has a minimum 60-year design life.
Hatchlands Primary School has a contemporary style aesthetic achieved using brick, cedar cladding, and purple panelling to complement the school’s branding, render, and significant glazed elements to create light-filled teaching spaces.
The school was built to high sustainability standard and received a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating, which places the school in 25% of buildings in terms of sustainability, aligning with the goals of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.
Planning requirements for Hatchlands Primary School meant that making efficient use of space was a high priority on the development, because the 420-place school had to be created on a similar footprint to the existing structure and within the same two-storey height limit.
The completed school delivers all the benefits of offsite construction; a shorter 32 week build schedule, less site traffic, more consistent build quality, a reduction of on-site waste and future reconfigurability and recyclability.
‘Inspiring pupils to take up a career in construction’
Graham Stevenson, construction manager at Elliott, said: “Completing Hatchlands Primary School in just 32 weeks is testament to the dedication of all project partners and benefits of our offsite systems.
“The new school is an important and exciting development for the community and we hope that it will inspire some of the pupils to take up a career in construction.”
‘Engage, equip and empower every child’
Moira Anderson, headteacher at Hatchlands Primary School, also commented: “What a fabulous new school we now have! The children were really excited about moving into their new classrooms and it is certainly very different to the temporary teaching areas we have been using.
“We were all really impressed with the professionalism and considerate approach of the Elliott team.
Hatchlands Primary was built by the DfE and is operated by Everychild Trust – a multi-academy trust whose aim is to “Engage, equip and empower every child”.
