Boys & Girls Nursery is a private, family-run nursery group with branches across Hertfordshire and Middlesex for babies and young children aged three months to five years and has been established for over a decade. Within a fun and nurturing environment, a highly trained team helps children to develop vital life skills.

The group’s nursery was put into a potential crisis situation when the owner of the leased building wanted to demolish and rebuild it. However, the option of portable buildings to accommodate the 75 young children who rely on the nursery for daily education and play proved the ideal solution.

Portable Offices responded with a flexible approach which included a suspended ceiling within the units to incorporate vital CCTV, alarms, network infrastructure and landscaped play areas outside.

Portable Offices’ Project Manager, Geoff Sawyer, said: “This project was quite challenging as our client was actually the landlord who were providing Boys & Girls with alternative accommodation due to them demolishing and redeveloping the existing site. This meant we had to work within their budget and to reduced timescales whilst also meeting the requirements and expectations of the end user: “Boys & Girls Nursery” to give them the facilities they needed.

“Having experienced this situation on various projects previously (when working with councils and schools) I understood the potential frustrations faced by Boys & Girls Nursery so we worked closely with Dan and the team to ensure they had everything they needed and to make the transition from a traditional building to a modular solution as smooth as possible without any impact on their business.”

Now, a new single storey nursery building complete with three classrooms, reception, washrooms and toilets, kitchen and staff room, provides all the necessary amenities in a bright, warm, spacious building.

Daniel Baugh, part of the maintenance team for the group, commented:
“I was initially worried at the prospect of moving everything into portable buildings; remembering my childhood experiences of damp, cold cabins. The reality is miles away from what I imagined.

“The units are warm, spacious, light and airy with every comfort provided. We were happy with the finished results and impressed with how various aspects of the build came together.

“The parents and children have transitioned smoothly across to the new nursery and are enjoying the new spaces including the garden. We are really happy to be able to offer such a good facility.”

Boys & Girls Nursery purchased the buildings which will provide alternative accommodation for the children for the next few years until the new building is completed.