Anglo-Portuguese School of London
All Case StudiesSchool Refurbishment
This was a school refurbishment project with a difference. Our objective was to convert part of an existing higher education college into a new primary school for the Anglo-Portuguese School of London.
We were instructed by the Department for Education with Mace Consultancy to undertake this exciting project, having been selected as the preferred contractor following a competitive tender bid.
As the first bilingual Portuguese school in the UK, with plans to grow year-on-year, the Anglo-Portuguese School of London needed high-quality teaching facilities that would support the school in providing each child with a meaningful learning experience.
Form created inspiring teaching facilities for the school; classrooms, admin room, washrooms and tea points, all fitted with new furniture and equipment. Externally, we refurbished the children’s play areas and fitted a new disabled ramp, cycle storage and bin stores.
The result was a contemporary primary school to be proud of, with state-of-the-art facilities to enable children’s learning and development.
I inherited this scheme from a colleague who spoke very favourably of Form during their time on the project. When visiting site towards the end of the project it was clear it had been managed well and whilst most contractors strive for zero defects at completion very few achieve this accolade. Form have been the closest I’ve seen with the handful that remained addressed swiftly after completion. I look forward to working alongside Form again in the future.
Michael Barlow Project Manager, Mace
A Complex Project
To bring the client’s vision to life, there were a few challenges to overcome.
For a start, the new school would need to be separated from the existing college building. This included structural alterations, separation of the M&E services and amendments to the fire strategy. With a high number of stakeholders involved, close collaboration and regular review and engagement meetings were crucial to keep all parties up to date. As face to face meetings were not possible due to COVID-19, strong communication was especially pertinent.
In addition, a major residential construction project was being carried out adjacent to our site, adding to the complexity of the project. Careful liaison between the teams and a comprehensive logistics plan approved by the local authority was required to successfully deliver the works.
Despite the complications and while operating under strict COVID-19 guidelines, this school refurbishment project was completed on time, to budget and to the total satisfaction of the client.
This school refurbishment followed similar specifications as the East London Science School refurbishment in Bow for the client DfE with CA Turner and Townsend.
