With pressure on schools to house a growing number of new pupils, Darlinghurst Primary School, Leigh on Sea, is typical of many schools looking to provide new accommodation quickly and cost-effectively for the influx of children.
Their solution was a single-storey, low-maintenance modular building established to provide two classrooms, a foyer and toilets for their year three pupils.
Both the teachers and the eight year-olds are all delighted with their new accommodation which is warm, bright and contemporary combining functionality with sublimely clean detailing.
The team from Portable Offices, the building provider, worked in tandem with site manager, Stuart Clark and teaching staff to bring to fruition a design and room plan that incorporated all the elements necessary to provide an ideal teaching situation for young children.
An over-riding concern of the school was the need for a speedy construction. Stuart Clark explains: “Portable Offices weren’t the cheapest tender but they were incredibly helpful and provided a service second to none. They helped us with the ground works and assisted us with planning procedures. I couldn’t fault them. It made what could have been a complicated and traumatic experience, seamless.”
With the UK experiencing the largest increase in demand for primary school places since the 1950’s, it is estimated that in the next two years, 240,000 new places will be needed in primary schools – 37% in London alone.
Portable Offices – one of the UK’s leading developers of modular buildings – has developed a full schools’ package designed to meet the demand.
Managing Director of Portable Offices, Adrian Witty, comments: “Darlinghurst is a typical example of a school that needed urgent additional classroom accommodation. Portable accommodation or modular buildings offer an ideal turn-key solution to new build needs with fast turnarounds of just six to eight weeks. We have developed a schools package which includes planning approval, essential amenities and ground works and warm, clean, bright state-of-the-art classrooms for a reasonable outlay.
“Having considerable experience in the education sector, we are ideally placed to provide the optimum solution to schools’ expansion needs.”
