Recent News
Independent Schools Update
Consultants to 84 Independent schools, Synergy have been leaders in education and in particular the Independent sector for over 45 years. From the smallest projects of new changing room facilities to 10 year master plans, we really have done it all.
Below is an update of just some of our current Independent School work:
Francis Holland School, London
Working Men’s Club Transformed
Carmel Hall, once a run-down former Men’s Club for the Duke of Westminster’s workers, on the Grosvenor Estate, London, has been transformed into a state of the art Performing Arts Centre for Francis Holland School. The centre was completed in August 2010 and includes 9 music rooms and additional classrooms.
The works to Carmel Hall involved the initial removal of the ground floor lounge and bar facilities and the dismantling and removal of a first floor snooker hall, complete with 2 full size snooker tables, which sadly never found a home. Within the hall, and from new reinforced concrete ground beams, a new structural steel frame was fabricated and erected, punching through the 1st floor to allow the formation of an additional mezzanine floor. This allowed the construction of the new music rooms to sound studio specification, as well as ancillary storage, stores and refreshment areas. The main area of the 1st floor of Carmel Hall was transformed into a fully functioning performing arts studio, with a state of the art lighting and sound system, sprung floor and cinema facilities, all accessed by new re-orientated staircases and a lift for DDA compliance.
Alongside the alteration works to Carmel Hall, an existing single storey music block was demolished and a new basement formed, to provide an extension to the existing school dining room. The school required that the existing dining room remained in operation, necessitating extensive temporary works, including dust and soundproof temporary partitions.
The new extension led to the complete refurbishment of the existing Senior Hall with refurbished sprung flooring, an under floor heated ballet dance area, new suspended ceilings and lighting, as well as a new AV system and Stage lighting, perimeter painted timber panelling and the complete removal and renovation of some existing stained glass windows which were of historic interest. The site can only be described as very restricted (!) with key areas of work having to be programmed to take place during school holiday periods.
The overall contract value at completion was £2.3m with construction taking place between June 2009 and August 2010. The initial enabling works contract was undertaken during the 2009 Easter break, to remove and divert electrical, CCTV, Alarms and Fibre Optic cabling away from the site.
The works were completed on time and on budget and were officially opened by the Duke of Westminster in October 2010.
Most importantly – the school are delighted with their new facilities!
Ardingly College, West Sussex
New Sixth Form Boarding House – the construction of this 3,000m2 four storey boarding house will commence on site in September. On completion, it will provide 96 study bedrooms and 7 day boarding rooms for its local and international students, together with associated social and administrative spaces, housemaster’s and tutor’s accommodation. The College is set in 250 acres of outstanding natural beauty in West Sussex. The new building has been sensitively designed to enhance the visual setting of the College, respecting the existing listed main school buildings, and making use of the steeply sloped site and the roof space, with regards to the massing and scale of the proposals.
Image courtesy of Associated Architects
Davenies School, Hemel Hempstead
Newton Building to Open
The Architectural division of Synergy was appointed by Jarvis Contracting to provide detail design and construction drawings (post planning permission) for a new building at Davenies School, an Independent Preparatory School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.
The new pavilion style building, to be known as the Newton Building after the schools founder, is built in two connected wings. The building has a number of different uses and includes new kitchens and a main dining room which opens on to a viewing terrace overlooking the school playing field. The upper floor accommodates two classrooms, a new library and larger viewing terrace. The other wing has a Design and Technology Suite on the ground floor and new changing rooms for outdoor sports, with a new staff flat on the first floor.
The building is to be opened by Phil Vickery on 14th May 2011.
King Edward’s School, Birmingham
We are currently working on a number of exciting projects at King Edward’s Shool. Work is now on site for the new Performing Arts Centre, which is due for completion in March 2012, for which Synergy are Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers and CDM Co-ordinators.
Other projects include:
· Feasibility studies for a new Sports Centre
· Classroom extension (at King Edward’s High School for Girls) – due on site July 2011
· Hockey pavilion and all weather pitch – due on site late 2011
· Science block extension – due on site May 2012
Royal Grammar School, Guildford
· 33 Sydenham Road / Valpy Building: Planning consent was achieved for a new build music classroom and rehearsal hall building in early April this year. The project is due to start on-site in July 2011 and will be ready for occupation in July 2012. Built on a difficult sloping site it is positioned and linked to the adjacent historic Valpy building within the cartilage of the medieval Guildford town wall.
· Trevone House: Refurbishment of the existing building to provide classrooms and group teaching spaces for the economics department. Works to be completed by September 2011.
· Courtyard Development: We have been working with MEB design to develop the two existing courtyards for classroom and circulation/plaza spaces, within a covered ETFE roof (similar to the Eden Project). This is at early feasibility appraisal stages.
Reigate Grammar School, Reigate
Science Extension Project - Linking with the existing science building, a new build 3 storey extension is currently being built, providing further science laboratories and classroom spaces. The project is due for completion in July 2011 with a construction value of £2.8million.
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