BSF News

What’s been going on

Works to complete the external stud walls to Section 1 the English, Maths & Music Block continue and roofing works to the Dance & Drama auditoria are underway.

Works are also progressing to prepare the ground floor slab to the Design, Technology and Engineering classrooms ready for the first concrete pour to this section next week.

On the suspended floor slabs steel reinforcement and formwork are being placed in preparation for the remaining suspended slab pours over the next three weeks.

Photo 3 shows mesh placed on the metal decking to the Textiles, Digital Imagery and Graphics classrooms on the second floor.

The ground floor slab to Section 1, the Music & MFL classrooms, has now been cast and works are in progress to start masonry works following completion of the external stud walls to these areas.

Works are now progressing to set up the ground floor slabs to Section 3. Photo 5 shows formwork being erected to the perimeter of the slab to the Design, Technology and Engineering classrooms. At the base of each of the columns you will see that the columns have been surrounded in concrete which is then protected with a waterproof membrane to ensure that there is no risk of ground water corroding the steelwork over time.

The small slabs of concrete that you can see in photo 6 have been cast in advance to provide local strengthening under the voids to be cast into the floor slab to accommodate floor boxes that will carry services to the island table units in the Design & Technology classrooms.

The edge protection and netting has been completed to the Dance/Drama roof to prevent any risk of falls and create a safe place of work for our roofers. A temporary scaffold staircase was then erected to give safe access to the new roof.

Before any works started to the roof we also erected a protective deck over the College access to the sports hall to ensure that there is no risk to the College staff and students from the nearby overhead works.

Having completed the necessary preparatory works to make the roof a safe place to work, a large mobile tower crane was used to lift in the composite roof sheets over the new building onto the new roof.

The sheets interlock forming a water proof deck over the Dance/Drama Hall in less than 3 days.

Once the sheets are in place the laps between the panels are heat welded together to provide a continuous waterproof membrane.

The roof to the Dance/Drama halls should be completed next week. Work will then commence to the LRC and Section 1 roofs.

The metal stud work which forms the external walls to the building is progressing well to the first and second floors of Section 1.

The stud work to the ground floor will be completed next week. A skin of cementitious board will then be fixed to the metal studs to form a weather tight barrier. Once this has been completed the masonry to the base of the walls can be constructed and the windows fixed in position. Photo 9 shows the progress that has been made with the steel carcass work to the Section 1 walls.

Our first delivery of windows is planned for the first week in August. Once the floor area has been made weather proof we will start the work on the internal fit out, starting with partitions to create the corridors and pipe work, ductwork and electrical containment to the classrooms. So expect to see the shape of your new classrooms coming together on your return from the Summer break.

Coming soon

• Completion of floor slabs

  All floor slabs will be completed before the end of the College Summer Holidays.

• Roof

  Works will continue into September to complete the roof to the entire building. The roof lights will then be fitted.

• Envelope.

  The construction of the envelope will be ongoing for the rest of this year. Our bricklayer will start at the beginning of the College Holidays and will continue into October to complete the 1m high wall around the perimeter of the Building.

• Stair enclosure behind the existing Sports Hall

  The foundations to the stairs will be completed next week ready for stair installation over the summer holiday.

• Service/CHP installation.

  Pipe work and cable ducts will also be laid around the outside of the mini-sports hall and sports hall during the College holidays to take the new incoming services into the new building. We will also be constructing the foundations for the Recoverable Energy Centre on the grassed are behind the existing sub-station and boiler house at the front of the College. One of the “boilers” used to create the heat for the new building will burn pure plant oil. One of the main waste products of electricity generation is heat. The oil burning “boiler” is actually a small combined heat and power (CHP) generator. When it is run electricity is exported back to the National Grid, whilst at the same time heat for the new building is produced. This process is far more efficient with a net use of Carbon that is approximately 4 times less than a conventional energy solution for a school.

• Modifications to the existing Sports Hall.

  Over the Summer Holiday we are going to adapt the position of the fire exits to the Sports Hall to suit the layout of the new building. This will involve blocking up one of the existing doors and forming three new openings. We will also inspect the roof structure and install any additional steelwork required to trim out future ventilation openings in the roof if required.

• Internal Works

  From early August our joiners, electricians & plumbers will start work carrying out what is known as “1st Fix” works. This includes the initial carcass work to the internal walls and the installation of the pipe work and electrical trunking that will be hidden from sight once the walls and ceilings are completed.

Regards,
John England – Carillion Project Manager