Completed temporary modular building at Leicester school
Like many councils, Leicester is addressing the growing problem of demand for school places. As such, a multi-million pound school expansion programme has been announced to provide thousands of new pupil places in the city.
Extensive new and necessary work are often completed in schools across the country during the summer holidays and Eaton Electrical’s work for Leicester City Council was no different.
Specialists in electrical work for schools
Part of Leicester’s school expansion programme was an ambitious plan to supply, install and commission six temporary modular school buildings in primary and secondary schools over the ten-week summer holiday period. The temporary modular buildings form a crucial part of the school expansion programme. The temporary classrooms will address the increased demand for school places resulting from new families moving into the city.
The first phase of the rollout was successfully completed in summer 2016. The remainder of the work: electrical, IT, fire and intruder systems were installed the following year. Phase two of the project required a high level of coordination with other trades, the client and project stakeholders due to the compressed programme.
So that the schools could make use of the new space, all work, including the initial survey, design, installation and final commissioning needed to be completed in time for the beginning of the new autumn term.
Each of the six sites was different, so a bespoke solution was required for each unit. Buildings ranged in size from two small classroom units to large two-story buildings.
The project began by conducting site surveys and understanding what specification is needed to meet the building’s demands. Detailed circuit designs and layout plans were developed, including plans to upgrade existing switchgear where the current infrastructure was unable to support the new installations.
In addition to electrical designs, Eaton Electrical liaised with incumbent contractors to develop suitable specification and designs for the IT, fire, and intruder alarm systems. Due to the narrow time frame in which installation work could be completed, a number of site teams were dispatched to ensure the deadline was met.
Throughout the project, our engineers also collaborated with school premises officers to ensure we did not impede the schools’ activities throughout the duration of the works.
By the time the autumn term began, all of the six temporary modular buildings were completed. The installations were successful and allowed space for more pupils at each school. On top of the project work, our electrical contractors delivered additional works including main switchgear upgrades, all within the time frame given by the council.
The school expansion programme is ongoing and Eaton Electrical have shown that we possess the required skills and resources to complete complex projects such as this to the required standard and deadline.
