Haddon Primary School - through-school refurbishment

Located in Carlton, Nottinghamshire, Haddon Primary School and Nursery School specialises in the education of pupils aged between three and 11, and is part of the Flying High Trust.

Since its creation in 1976, the school had been confined to one level, with the classrooms separated by curtains resulting in an open-plan design which was noisy and not conducive to learning. In order to enhance the learning experience for students, the school required a transformation which would include permanent classrooms, a new assembly/sports hall, and a sensory room.

Following a comprehensive tender process, J Tomlinson was appointed by the Flying High Trust to manage this refurbishment project.

Live school environment

The project was split into four phases in order to cause minimal disruption to the school’s continuing operations, with the first phase of works – the refurbishment of year six classroom – undertaken during the summer holidays.

As the majority of works were undertaken during term-time, J Tomlinson was extremely mindful of the daily presence of pupils, staff and visitors, and took measures to minimise risk and impact to the school, ensuring the safety of all. These measures included segregating each work site from the rest of the school, creating temporary fire-access routes, as well as working outside of the school’s operating hours. Furthermore, welfare facilities were erected in the staff car park without taking up too much space.

Close partnership with client

Based on site, J Tomlinson had day-to-day interactions and involvement with the client, who was able to oversee every stage of the works. This collaborative partnership saw J Tomlinson making small changes to the original brief in order to accommodate the client’s needs, including extra works to the new sensory room.

J Tomlinson worked with the client to offer a coloured render as opposed to standard cladding, in order to enhance the ‘inspirational’ feel of the school environment for staff and pupils.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT - J Tomlinson enjoyed an excellent relationship with the school and the trust itself. Whilst we ensured our presence caused minimal disruption to children, staff and visitors, we were occasionally asked to attend lessons, where we would listen to children’s feedback on their new school

MINIMAL DISRUPTION TO STAFF AND STUDENTS - all efforts were made to minimise disruption to the learning environment, including phased and out-of-hours working

ENHANCED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT - the new classrooms have considerably improved the school’s previous problems of sound travelling through the building, now we have quiet and calm corridors and each classroom is carefully designed to optimise its use for the children.

CUSTOMISED FINISH - J Tomlinson worked with the client to offer a coloured render as opposed to standard cladding, in order to enhance the ‘inspirational’ feel of the school environment for staff and pupils