Worldwise Limited was engaged to produce a detailed design, specification and drawings and full site visit roles for all the mechanical and electrical services systems for this conventional JCT contract.
The project comprised a new 8-classroom building primarily for maths and religious studies with space provided for the head of a department office and faculty office, large store and a technician’s office and store for the adjacent design and technology building. The building was constructed from conventional steel frame with a brick exterior over two floors totalling 780m2.
The architectural design made good use of natural daylight and ventilation with large windows and opening lights whilst employing the surrounding woods and other building to prevent summertime overheating.
To meet the demands of the new building it was necessary for the power supply to the campus to be upgraded and the main switchpanel also required modification. The school’s fire detection and alarm system was upgraded to accommodate the additional zones demanded by the new building and to ensure the system met current legislation for inclusivity in schools.
Dedicated gas-fired condensing boilers serve an optimised and compensated LPHW radiator heating system with distribution pipework routed in floor screeds from manifolds to radiators minimising the risk of noise transfer between classrooms and assisting with BB93 compliance.
As the project evolved the Headmaster decided to “future-proof” the building by incorporating an extensive data cabling (and associated power) distribution in the classrooms, not just for Interactive Smart Boards but for up to 11 outlets per classroom. Worldwise Limited designed an extension to the existing school curriculum network using fibre-optic cable links and local data cabinets with switches and patch panels. The interactive Smart Boards complete with loudspeakers and projectors were also included in the specification.
Extensive use was made of dado trunking for the distribution of power, data and voice system wiring throughout, thereby minimising chases into walls with the associated potential for noise transfer between classrooms.
A feature that the design team and client worked hard to achieve was locating the Smart Boards centrally in each classroom with a split conventional white board mounted on a framework that allowed it also to be central when the Smart Boards were not in use but to be slid sideways on fixed rails when the Smart Boards were required.
