Wernick provide ‘A Great Place to Learn’ for Dashwood Academy

When Dashwood Academy’s Principal Rachel Gallyott visited a Wernick building at nearby St Leonards School she was instantly impressed. She commented, “We liked the classrooms at St Leonard's and it was clear that effort had been made to deliver a building that complemented the existing buildings.” Now, finished with a mix of timber, real brick and render to seamlessly blend with the rest of the school, Dashwood have six new Wernick classrooms of their own.

Aside from the look of the finish, there were several reasons why a modular build programme was preferred. While reduced cost is one advantage, the urgent need to accommodate rising pupil intake meant a speedy build time was also vital. From the site occupation Wernick completed the project in just 14 weeks. The single most exciting day for the children was undoubtedly when the fifteen building modules were craned into place.

The new rooms will allow the school to increase pupil numbers by 180 when the next academic year starts in September. They will house the older children and the school hopes they will get a feeling of growing up into the more modern classrooms. The pupil-led school council were involved in the construction process at the early stages, with children deciding on where play equipment was to be relocated to make way for the new building.

Dashwood Academy had a very clear vision for the layout of the building, with each classroom needing to be spacious with ample storage space, and wet role play areas within the classrooms. A neighbouring toilet facility attached to each classroom layout was also a must. Wernick Buildings carried out the whole “turnkey package” on behalf of the client, from initial enquiry stage to planning, design, groundworks, delivery through to completion. The climate controlled classrooms are hi-tech, and feature the latest IT equipment including large touch screen wall mounted TVs.

Rachel was also complementary of the Wernick team, “They were very approachable and were good at putting things into layman’s terms! The extras we required were fitted out perfectly and we hardly knew they were on site.”

The new building certainly compliments the School motto, which is ‘A Great Place to Learn’.

For further information about Wernick modular buildings visit www.wernick.co.uk, email 'enquiries@wernick.co.uk' or call 0800 112 4640.