Category Archives: contract administration

More Developments at Henlow Academy

Friday, July 22nd, 2022

Our long-term project to extend and redevelop the site at Henlow Academy in Bedfordshire reaches its latest phase, with the addition of a new passenger lift to replace an old platform lift. This will enable pupils, staff and visitors with impaired mobility to access the first floor classrooms and facilities, and is a very welcome addition to the Academy site.

Also in this development phase was the refurbishment of the design & technology room and art rooms, refreshing the spaces and giving them a renewed lease of life. A new corridor leads to the Henlow Hub. Two existing rooms were knocked into one to create a larger library/hub space, with a moveable library shelving system to give more flexibility. The interior design scheme for the room combines the four colours that have been used throughout the extension and refurbishment of this block.

PCMS Design Shortlisted for Building Excellence Award

Tuesday, February 12th, 2019

Our team was delighted to hear last week that we have been shortlisted for a Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Central Region Building Excellence Award 2019.

We are hopeful that our new build sports hall and six classroom construction project at Henlow Academy will achieve success in the ‘Best Educational Building’ category. The project team including Central Bedfordshire Council, Henlow Academy, Cox Clifford Partnership, BSD Consulting Engineers, Marstan BDB and Borras Construction are very pleased that the project has been nominated.

This is our eighth consecutive year of being shortlisted for an Award, and we are all looking forward to attending the black tie Awards Ceremony in Milton Keynes in April. Regional category winners are put forward to the National LABC Awards.

Design Brief Submitted for Residential Development

Monday, January 28th, 2019

A milestone has been reached in the project to consolidate Lord Williams’s School onto a single site. Consultants acting for the Thame-based academy have submitted the Design Brief for residential development on the Lower School site to Thame Town Council.

This stage in the process is required by the Neighbourhood Plan, and follows a consultation process in which neighbours of the school and Thame residents were shown potential concepts and feedback was sought.

PCMS Design has been involved in advising Lord Williams’s School, liaising with Oxfordshire County Council and assisting with the appointment of planning consultants Lanpro.

The Design Brief before the Council is for a compliant 135-dwelling scheme, and has responded to the feedback received. Housing that is sympathetic to existing adjacent dwellings is being proposed, and the scheme includes public open space, sustainable drainage infrastructure and retains key hedgerows. The proportion of affordable housing will be determined later in the project.

The adoption of the Design Brief will help to deliver the aspirations within the Thame Neighbourhood Plan for housing, and also for consolidating the school at the current Upper School site on Oxford Road.

School Development Project Completes at Henlow

Monday, October 15th, 2018

A significant school development project has just completed at Henlow Church of England Academy to the delight of staff and pupils. PCMS Design was involved from the very outset, taking the Academy from feasibility stage when we examined the potential of providing extra accommodation on site, through to pre-planning, detailed design and specification and then lastly the construction management of the project.

The new building provides a modern four-court sports hall with changing areas, and six classrooms in an attached block. Pupils will be able to benefit from a range of sports including netball, badminton, basketball, hockey and five-a-side football. A giant projector with screen has been installed so the school can use the hall for assemblies and other teaching events. The facilities will be available to hire by the wider community.

Six new humanities and language classrooms provide the latest in educational technology with interactive whiteboards in each. Creating a bright and comfortable teaching environment has been a priority; the classrooms have been designed to meet the space and facility requirements set out by the Department for Education and include fibre optic links, Wi-Fi coverage as well as the latest modern security and fire systems.

This £2.4 million investment in Henlow Church of England Academy’s site was funded by Central Bedfordshire Council and the Education & Skills Funding Agency. Site construction works were completed on time and to budget by Borras Construction Limited.

Head teacher Caren Earp is thrilled with the new facilities: “A big thank you to PCMS Design – with all of their support, design skills and project management expertise we now have a fantastic new building which is going to be of huge benefit to our children, increasing the number and range of opportunities for sport that we can now offer.”

Alex Bond of PCMS Design commented: “We feel very privileged to have been involved with this exciting site development project at Henlow Academy. Effective communication between the design team, local authority staff, specialist consultants, builders and their sub-contractors was the key to its successful completion, ready for the new school year.”

Some of the partners and suppliers involved with the Henlow Church of England Academy project:
 Curved standing seam zinc roof on the sports hall by VMZinc: www.vmzinc.co.uk
 Akusto Impact resistant acoustic panelling in the sports hall by Ecophon: www.ecophon.com/uk
 Sports hall floor installation by Dynamik: www.dynamiksportsfloors.co.uk
 External cladding to the sports hall by Kingspan: www.kingspan.com
 Performance spec for M&E installation BSD Consulting Engineers: www.bsdconsulting.com
 Main Contractor: www.borrasconstruction.co.uk

New Modular Classrooms are Lifted In!

Tuesday, September 4th, 2018

It was exciting last week to be present at the lifting in of a new modular double classroom unit at Maple Tree Lower School in Sandy. The classrooms have been constructed off-site in a specialist factory, which has considerably speeded up the construction and delivery time. From signing contracts with the modular company to installation on site has been a matter of weeks rather than months, and the two classrooms will be up and running towards the end of September.

The ‘bays’ arrive with many fixtures and fittings already installed including walls, doors and ceilings – many already finished off with their final decorated surfaces. Sinks, sanitary ware and WC cubicles are also fitted at the factory, along with external wall finishes such as cedar cladding. The bays are simply craned into position on pre-prepared foundations and bolted into place.

Weather conditions were perfect for the installation which all went according to plan. Head Teacher Cath Bainbridge was on site at the time, and was full of praise for the speed and efficiency of the installation: “These new classrooms will be used by our pre-school and nursery children, and I am thrilled by the quality of the finish, and how quickly you have delivered this project for us.”

Extension to Family Home

Friday, July 27th, 2018

We have recently managed the construction of a part two-storey and part single-storey rear extension to a family home in Buckinghamshire. Our clients had already received planning permission for the scheme, but needed assistance with producing construction drawings, finding suitable builders and then administering a building contract.

On the first floor, a new master bedroom was added with an en suite bathroom. Downstairs the extension has allowed not only for a large open plan kitchen / breakfast room with folding doors into the garden, but also a useful utility and storage room.

Everything ran very smoothly and finished on time and within budget. Our clients are delighted with their larger home: “PCMS Design’s assistance in liaising with the building firm and administering the contract was invaluable, and everyone worked together really well. We could highly recommend this service to others in a similar situation.”

Construction Begins at Henlow Academy

Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

We reached an important milestone last week when members of our team made the first site visit to a new development project at Henlow Academy in Bedfordshire. This is following our successful application to Central Bedfordshire Council for planning permission on behalf of the Academy, to a building design we had produced.

Construction has begun on a four-court sports hall and new classrooms, which will form the cornerstone of a larger site development project. We have already overseen the construction of a link extension and internal alterations to the main building in 2017, but the Academy will benefit still further from the latest increase in sports provision and additional teaching space.

The principal contractor, Borras Construction, has made a start on foundation trenches with the first inspection completed by Central Bedfordshire Council Building Control. We are looking forward to seeing progress as we oversee the construction throughout the nine month build period.

Extra Parking for Residents

Tuesday, December 12th, 2017

Thame & District Housing Association is a Registered Social Landlord which provides rented accommodation for people over 60 years of age. Pearce Court in Thame is a very popular residential development with a number of flats and some recreational/shared space. However, over the years it became clear that there was insufficient parking for residents as more people run their own cars, or have visitors arriving by car.

As the Housing Association had already secured planning permission for enlarging the car park, our role was to procure suitable construction firms and then subsequently project manage the works. We also carried out the contract administration.

If you have a similar project that would benefit from some professional management, then we would be very happy to discuss it – you may be surprised at how we can add value and take away a lot of the stresses of construction projects of any kind, not just extensions and new builds