CASE STUDY
Portfield Primary Academy, Chichester 2019
Playground Works Including Bespoke Water Feature and Artificial Grass Throughout
-
“Your team's approachable manner and willingness to listen to our school's needs has resulted in a wonderful play area for our youngest children and gives an amazing first impression to anyone visiting our school”
- Mr Rayment, Deputy Headteacher -
“You ... went above and beyond to make sure that every small detail was thought through ... and the many bespoke additions to the outside area make it a truly unique space for our children ... Your team were incredibly respectful of the children and staff in our school and made sure that disruptions were kept to a minimum.”
- Mr Rayment, Deputy Headteacher
Contract Value:£180 000
Completion: Aug 2019
Budget: Delivered to budget
Time: Delivered on time
Safety: Zero incidents
Description
Providing a new exterior play area at Portfield Primary Academy with surfacing works, equipment storage secured by colourful roller shutters, and a wooden storage shed. Surfacing works involved laying convincing artificial grass around living trees and providing a circular rubber crumb race course which forms an island in the middle with two raised play areas featuring a climbing frame and slide, with a wooden balance beam in the centre.
The playground also includes a bespoke water feature, with water being fed into a large raised wooden pond, which progressively drains into two wooden channels, leading finally down a winding stream into a pebble pond.
Key Challenges
Safety and minimal disruption within an educational setting
- Holiday works: The bulk of the works were carried out while children were off-site during summer holidays.
- Careful housekeeping: We carefully ensured all works areas were clear of any sharps and tools prior to handover, including ensuring that wooden edges were chamfered to minimise risk of splinter injuries in children and injuries from falls against hard wooden corners and edges. Glass windows delivered with the shed were replaced with a strong perspex alternative to avoid possible injury from broken glass.
- Traffic and parking: St James' Road in Chichester is a busy residential road with limited parking for the number of residents. We minimised our impact on local traffic and parking by utilising available parking on-site due to the school holidays and scheduling deliveries outside of busy times.
Completion on-time and on-budget.
- Regular cost reports kept the client apprised of the financial position of the project, and extras were clearly costed and documented to ensure no overruns.
Portfield Primary Academy Photo Gallery
