Tortoises just love new School building

The energy saving properties of the new modular building at St. Leonards Primary School in Banbury have been warmly welcomed by the children’s pet tortoises that reside in the building. Linda Keane, the schools business manager commented, “The temperature is so consistent it’s perfect to house our tortoises. We hardly ever need to put heating up to keep rooms at their ideal temperature”.

After Linda Keane and the school’s governor saw previous school projects that Wernick Buildings had provided in Slough, they were convinced the only option to consider for their new accommodation was a modular building. Linda remarked, “The flexibility of modular construction was very appealing to us, so on recommendation we visited some previous school buildings Wernick had delivered. Our school governor was so impressed he was convinced modular was the best way forward for the new nursery.”

Wernick Buildings was promptly tasked to provide a full turnkey solution to replace the old and worn building that was being used. The team carried everything from the design, planning, groundwork and demolition of the old facility. The new 9 bay modular building meets full building regulations and was completed from receipt of order in just 11 weeks. There was minimal disruption to the school with the only noted inconvenience being when the schools car park had to be cleared to make room for a crane. A large crowd of the schools pupils enthusiastically watched the single day it took to install new building modules.

With flexibility being key, the building was designed to be multi-functional. Besides being a full time nursery, the facility is split to cater for a breakfast club, after school club and is also used as an overspill classroom, catering for up to 30 pupils during school hours. The nursery side houses up to forty 3-5 year old children for 51 weeks of the year.

For extra flexibility, sound proofed folding partitions were fitted so the building can be opened up and offered as a large 160m2 function room, which can be hired out with the potential to generate an income for the school. To complete the building an attractive wood and brick finish was added with a traditional style roof to complement the existing school and its surroundings. For outdoors playtime, the exterior of the building features canopied play areas with separate soft-play area for the nursery and primary school children.

The fast track modular build programme has proven to be an excellent business decision. Linda explained “The nursery is a brilliant addition to our School and exactly what we wanted, it’s very energy efficient, and our calculations suggest it will pay for itself in ten years which is a great investment.”