In the same week that the Department for Children, Schools and Families announced an extra £100m in funding to tackle a national shortfall of tens of thousands of primary school places; UK Company Alfresco Rooms Ltd unveiled an alternative building solution that could be the answer to this growing crisis.

New school building delivered in less than seven weeks

In a flagship project, Coupals Primary School in Haverhill, Suffolk opened the doors of a custom designed Alfresco free standing classroom, the first of its kind in the UK and believed to be the largest stand alone building of its type in the country. Incredibly, the bespoke octagonal building was delivered in less than seven weeks, with minimal upheaval to the school, meeting all stringent building regulations and exceeding eco guidelines.

Paul Townsend, Director of Alfresco Rooms said: ‘We are very proud of the installation at Coupals Primary School, which is the largest stand-alone structure of its type in the country, if not the world. We hope this installation will pave the way for more schools to create amazing facilities within the growing constraints of space and finances that most schools face.’

Unique in design and limited only by imagination, shade sails and waterproof tension structures can easily be extended over time to suit a school’s needs and budgets – and provide the perfect architectural solution to an outdoor classroom, waiting area or the modern gazebo.

These structures have recently appeared on headteachers’ wish lists thanks to calls from Ofsted, Every Child Matters, the World Health Organisation and Cancer Research UK’s ‘SunSmart’ campaign – with guidelines flagging up the importance of providing outdoor learning activities that protect children from the dangers of UV radiation.

A simulation of new carbon cutting legislation has highlighted that the majority of organisations affected, including Local Education Authorities and large educational establishments, will struggle to collect and verify their energy data risking unnecessary costs, penalties and in extreme cases facing criminal prosecution for non-compliance.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment, CRC – Energy Efficiency Scheme comes into effect in April next year with qualifying organisations required to buy carbon allowances to cover the carbon emissions they produce.  Local Education Authorities and educational establishments will be among those affected by the new carbon cutting laws and need to act now to ensure they are CRC-ready with LEAs responsible for collecting and reporting all carbon emissions data from their schools and other premises.

Research carried out by Portakabin, the UK’s leading education building specialist, has shown that it has successfully delivered 99.6 per cent of buildings on time and on budget over the past four years.

This is in dramatic contrast to new Government statistics for building industry performance that show just 46 per cent of construction projects were completed on cost and only 59 per cent on time over the past year (source: Construction Statistics Annual 2009, Office of Public Sector Information*). 

Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, the UK’s largest supplier of recycled and refurbished modular buildings, has completed a new performing arts centre at Swanshurst School in Birmingham after only nine weeks on site. 

Because the building is constructed from pre-owned building modules, it is also a highly sustainable construction solution.

The contract to install natural cooling and ventilation control systems in a new skills academy currently under construction in Bristol has been awarded to WindowMaster.

WindowMaster was selected because it was able to provide a well thought out and cost effective natural ventilation solution. A feature of the building is full height glazing to the entrance supported by vertical tubular steel trusses, allowing natural light to flood the atrium. The original design used high level windows and louvres with heaters to pre-temper the air prior to it entering the space. WindowMaster carried out a substantial analysis to prove that the building would still work using openable windows. The extensive environmental modelling ensures that a natural ventilation strategy will achieve comfortable teaching conditions within the building and meet the strict design criteria set by the college. As a result of the analysis the final installation will include 182 actuators controlling windows in 26 zones.

Ocip Energy is a leading company within the renewable energy sector, and our mix of LED lighting and wind energy technologies offer significant and tangible benefits to our customers.

Our Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are a very demonstrable statement of a school’s green credentials, aside from being an asset and investment. We are distributors of the widest range of VAWTs in the UK.

Premier Interlink (Waco UK) has over 60 years experience in providing buildings for education offering a flexible, smart, modern and comfortable education environment.  School buildings can be provided in half the usual time compared to traditional build and at a very competitive price using modern and innovative methods of construction.  Our newest building system is a permanent solution for adding extra single storey classrooms and our increasingly popular PremierPlus multi-storey, high quality building system is ideal for new multi-purpose education solutions for nurseries, schools, colleges and universities. 

Contract interiors specialist Gradus has supplied and fitted a comprehensive wall protection system at a new state-of-the art special school in Wigan, helping to create a safe, easy-to-maintain and colourful learning environment.

Throughout the school's corridors, Gradus installed stainless steel corner guards and Sanparrel rubrails in a variety of co-ordinating colours. Gradus also installed a Sanparrel PVC-u sheet system in the school's sports hall to create an attractive environment and provide additional protection for these vulnerable wall surfaces.

IGLOOS Washrooms are pleased to announce that they have recently developed their existing cubicle system ranges to include a collection suitable for the education sector.

These include pre-school, primary and secondary and have been designed as a result of extensive research into the common difficulties associated with school toilets. The preschool range can incorporate age appropriate learning aids such as shapes, colours, alphabet letters, words and sums.

Hamonds High School in West Norfolk is relishing its return to calm and order thanks to STI (Europe) and its innovative Stopper product which has completely eradicated the school's problem of false fire alarms.

Hamonds is a 750-pupil mixed high school and had been suffering malicious fire alarm activations on an increasingly regular basis, including three in a single day. It was a major issue which needed addressing as quickly and as effectively as possible. Leigh Sharpe, School Support Manager at Hamonds, was given the task of sourcing a solution, one which would provide a long term method of combating the extensive disruption to classes, staff and pupils that the false alarms were inevitably causing through persistent evacuations of the building.

A complete package of responsibly sourced roofing solutions from market leaders Alumasc, has been chosen for a new BREEAM Assessed school in Sunderland, as part of a Low Carbon Schools initiative.

Hetton Lyons Primary School was keen to work with Alumasc for their ability to provide an environmentally sound product package and unrivalled technical support.

The new Felpham Children and Family Centre on the site of the Bishop Tufnell School in Bognor Regis, West Sussex has been completed on time and on budget using Terrapin's offsite building technology. The ‘C' shaped building by architects Felce & Guy posed no problem for Terrapin's versatile panelbased Unitrex system, which combines design flexibility with the quality, value and speed associated with offsite construction. Purpose-designed Unitrex elements for the 180m2 building were factory fabricated by Terrapin whilst groundworks were being completed and then delivered to site in ‘flat pack' panelised units for rapid erection.

With the Olympics arriving in 2012 and local authorities looking to promote sports and recreational activities, Trimo UK Ltd, a division of one of Europe's leading manufacturers of steel construction materials and cladding solutions has developed a range of Modular Sports Buildings.

Benefiting from reduced building time, low maintenance, and possessing the highest fire and sustainability certificates, Trimo's Modular Sports facilities are an innovative and cost-effective solution unique to the UK market.

Torquay Girls' Grammar School in Devon required a cost-effective ventilation system that fully satisfied recent Government legislation on heating and ventilation within school buildings. In most cases, the capital and lifetime costs of air conditioning systems make them an unlikely specification for education establishments, so specifier Paul Walters, from Scott Wilson Consulting, chose Jaga Heating's oXygen system for the School. "Firstly we needed a system that was fit for purpose and one that would comply with both Building Bulletins 101 and 93.

Smith's Wood Sports College is part of Solihull's £74m Building Schools for the Future programme. The 1100-place college has been fitted out with a range of Rockfon ceiling systems to meet specific performance criteria.

Martin Oubridge, Project Manager for BAM Construction, who were responsible for the design and build, commented: "We had a lot of performance criteria for this project, which included meeting specific acoustic requirements, alongside overall life cycle costs and price. The design included a large amount of exposed concrete for thermal mass to assist with the building's BREEAM rating. Rockfon tiles were very adaptable to this type of construction, being available in a range of module sizes, with the facility to install both vertically and horizontally within a grid system and were easy to cut and handle on site."

Rising birth rates is one factor being blamed for a shortage of places in England's primary schools. London and the West Midlands has been hardest hit, with the government expected to announce an extra £200m in funding to provide new primary school places.

According to the National Union of Teachers, too many schools were closed when the birth rate was falling, meaning there is now no capacity in the system.

Innovative carpet tile company, Burmatex, has created a bespoke 720m2 carpet installation for Carmarthenshire College, one of the largest further education establishments in Wales. The brief was to create a design-led flooring scheme that was both welcoming and would leave a lasting impression. It was also important that the design met the requirements of the Discrimination and Disabilities Act (DDA) and improved the acoustics of the typically noisy reception area.

It's that time of the year again when schools across the country have had to hold exams. Highgate Wood School in London is no exception, however, noisy construction work being undertaken to upgrade school buildings adjacent to the exam hall, left nowhere suitable for students to sit their exams.

With only 6 weeks to go until the first exam, the school needed a quick and versatile solution and contacted Spaciotempo, the UK's largest temporary building provider.

Mapei's Eco-friendly products have once again been specified for use in a major public sector flooring project.  Three schools in Berwickshire: Eyemouth High School, Earlston High School and The Berwickshire High School had a total of approx. 26,000m² of carpet and vinyl floors installed using Mapei levelling compounds, damp proof membranes and adhesives.

The highly developed and proven Eco products were specified by contractors Proctor Flooring of Washington, Tyne and Wear, having used them before and experienced the benefits they bring to this type of contract.

PARQCOLOR Ultra 9582 Birch, the high pressure laminate flooring from ABET LAMINATI, has been used extensively throughout the new River House Montessori School, recently relocated to a stunning prime waterfront location in London's Docklands.

PARQCOLOR , laid in the assembly hall, walkways, corridors and open areas, is a perfect choice for this type of heavy duty application. With a wide range of rich and distinctive designs and finishes, the high pressure laminate offers the dual benefits of high performance and durability combined with an extremely attractive appearance. The flooring has excellent impact resistance as well as high resistance to scuffs, spillages, dirt and staining.  Importantly for the school, it is maintenance free, does not need polishing, sanding or varnishing and is easily cleaned with a damp mop.

An innovative dry floor screed from Knauf Drywall boosts the green credentials of new and highly sustainable primary school buildings in the Devon countryside, near Totnes. About 1,800m2 of thermally transparent Knauf Brio Dry Floor Screed was specified for the new Dartington C.E. Primary and Nursery School, to ensure maximum efficiency from its underfloor heating, from specialist supplier Nu-Heat. Knauf Brio is a gypsum fibre board, specially developed for new or refurbishment flooring and for use with underfloor heating or cooling systems.

Innovative design, speed of construction on site and a competitive price were the key factors in Andoversford School's decision to specify a Pinelog building to house its new community playgroup.

In order to provide a resource for the local community, the Governors' at Andoversford Primary School decided to invest in a new building to house a playgroup and a mother & toddler group. For the budget available, a factory-fabricated building was thought to be the best option. A number of suppliers were invited to tender, the proposal from Pinelog being accepted as their buildings were thought to be the most attractive and competitively priced.

Evac+Chair International has recently supplied over 50 of its stairway evacuation chairs to the University of Chester, assisting them to offer an equal university experience to all. The University of Chester is one of the oldest education institutions in the country with in excess of 150 buildings of varying style and age.

"We have a transient population so we need to cater for those that are currently here and for those who may wish to study or work here in the future," explained the University's Health & Safety Manager Stephen Povey. He continued, "A stairway evacuation device was identified to us as a way of fulfilling our health and safety and equality and diversity commitments enabling us to offer a safe means of emergency escape for all."

Aluminium Rainwater specialists Alumasc have supplied a high performance rainwater system to the award-winning £7.3m Windygoul Primary School in Tranent, near Edinburgh. 

The school, built to stringent ‘green' requirements boasts environmental features such as integrated photovoltaic glazing, solar hot water heating and a sedum roof, earning East Lothian Council a Carbon Trust Award for Low Carbon Building.

Accio Group has consistently proven itself to be one of the UK's leading suppliers of temporary structure solutions to the education sector. The company's dedicated team of highly trained professionals offer expert project management and can provide a range of solutions to meet individual establishment's needs.

Specialising in delivering temporary structures of all shapes and sizes, Accio Group is renowned for its ability to deliver projects on time and on budget. 

Thirteen new primary schools that have been built for Barnsley Metropolitan Council as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) have benefited from the high performance products and technical expertise of leading paint manufacturer Johnstone's.

The paint specification that Johnstone's devised was required to meet a challenging brief set by main contractors Carillion that included the need for all materials used to be aesthetically pleasing whilst helping to significantly reduce maintenance requirements and potential disruption throughout the contract term. 

Moulton College has an unrivalled reputation for excellence in training for the land based industries. The need arose for a pet shop and florist on campus, to be used as a teaching aid and provide horticultural and animal welfare students with first-hand retail experience.

The shops were planned as an extension to the college's garden centre so a single building made from natural materials but steered well clear of something that looked like a large wooden ‘shed' was required.  There was also a tight deadline, the building had to be up and running in a few weeks.

To expand school facilities quickly and cost-effectively local education authorities are turning increasingly to factory built, modular construction. Not only are great savings achieved in construction costs and site development times, but the steel framed buildings look just as pleasing and are as equally robust as those that are built using traditional building techniques.

To expand school facilities quickly and cost-effectively local education authorities are turning increasingly to factory built, modular construction. Not only are great savings achieved in construction costs and site development times, but the steel framed buildings look just as pleasing and are as equally robust as those that are built using traditional building techniques.