West Bridgford School

Project name: West Bridgford School
Sector: Education
Location: Nottingham
Client name: East Midlands Education Trust
Supplied by: Wernick Buildings
Time on site: 3 months
Accommodation type: Single-Storey Music Block with Acoustics
Size: 288 m2 (12 modules)
Features: classrooms, practice rooms, recording studio, brick-skin cladding, acoustic panelling, property landscaping

Requirement
Music students at the West Bridgford School have something to celebrate now that the school’s new modular music block is complete.

The East Midlands Education Trust had the vision to turn a piece of land containing a barely-used amphitheatre into a space where pupils and community members alike could expand their knowledge and creativity in the musical field.

A modular building solution was chosen by the client due to the limited time frame. It was also a more cost-effective solution.

With a deadline ultimately set by the academic calendar, the speed of construction that modular manufacture offers was the key to the success of the project.

The Trust partnered with contractor Surveyors to Education (S2E) to help lead this project and, following a tender process, Wernick Buildings was selected to deliver a state-of-the-art music block for the school.

Solution
Wernick’s design team worked with the client to adapt an existing architectural design to suit a modular system.

The building design needed to incorporate features suitable for proper sound reverberation and acoustics. The traditional interior layout was designed to limit the transfer of sound, with acoustic panels throughout the building.

The project involved a massive groundworks package, which included demolishing the existing building on-site.

Due to the small site footprint and surrounding school buildings, transporting and installing the units was difficult for crews. There was also limited access to the site due to existing buildings.

As an added challenge, module installation had to take place within a week, which took advantage of the time-efficient and effective nature of modular building construction.

External building features include a brick-skin finish, property landscaping, and an overhang on the front elevation.

The interior of the block showcases two large classrooms, eight practice rooms and a recording studio as well as extra space for storage.

Client Comment:

Mandy Anghelone, Services Manager at West Bridgford School commented: “The Wernick team did the job, came and went, with no issues. They would listen to feedback and would make any changes that were needed. Honestly the dream team for me.”