Member Article

New buildings ready for new term at East Sussex academy

Morgan Sindall Construction’s Southern Home Counties business celebrated the five-week early completion of the Hailsham Community College Academy Trust (HCCAT) with an opening ceremony on the 24th June.

The event marks the final milestone of a new three-story development, which has been delivered five weeks ahead of schedule, easing the pressure ahead of the next academic year. A number of local Morgan Sindall Construction, East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and HCCAT representatives attended, including Hailsham Mayor, Paul Holbrook; ESCC Project Manager, Alice Smyth; Morgan Sindall Construction’s Southern Home Counties area director, Guy Hannell; as well as Executive Principal at HCCAT, Phil Matthews.

The day included a ribbon cutting ceremony, an eleven-a-side football match between the school and the Morgan Sindall Construction team, as well as a BBQ for the local community.

Thanks to the completed work, HCCAT now benefits from 2,700m2 of new space, which includes an extra 22 classrooms, a flood-lit all-weather pitch, a new SEN facility and a newly refurbished Sixth Form Centre and Library. This extra capacity will ensure that the academy can meet the demands of the new academic year, as it will create places for 300 additional 11-16-year-old pupils and 100 sixth form students.

During the build, the Southern Home Counties business adapted the plans to include an additional hard standing area.

In line with its Responsible Business Plan, Morgan Sindall Construction worked closely with the school throughout the project. This collaborative relationship not only benefited the construction project but it informed a number of valuable community and environmental initiatives. As a result, over 1,400 pupils were involved in STEM activities, £12,974 was donated to charity, 96 per cent of waste was diverted from landfill and 100 per cent of the small amount of timber used was responsibly sourced.

By employing its Intelligent Solutions approach, Morgan Sindall Construction understood the client’s need for an accelerated build programme – to ensure the buildings were ready in time for the new school term – and to ensure a sustainable solution. As a result, a timber off-site manufactured system from Streif Sustainable Building Solutions was utilised, which enabled an early completion and led to calculated carbon savings of 54.5 tonnes from transport alone. The off-site solution meant that approximately 50 fewer deliveries were required compared to a traditional timber frame and it has drastically reduced commuting mileage for associated operatives by 90%.

The secondary school building is the second project being delivered by the Southern Home Counties business for ESCC following the successful completion of Hailsham Primary Academy in November 2019. 

Guy Hannell, Southern Home Counties area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “It has been a privilege to deliver another important school development for East Sussex County Council and continue to help them meet the educational demands of the local area.

“Our team enjoyed a strong, collaborative partnership with Hailsham Community College Academy Trust and all the academy’s stakeholders throughout the project. This close and creative working relationship meant that we could deliver new educational capabilities tailored to the local area’s current and future needs while simultaneously creating a significant amount of social value for the community at each stage of the build.”

Phil Matthews, Executive Principal at Hailsham Community College Academy Trust, said: “What has been accomplished over the past two years has been quite remarkable at a time of dealing with a global pandemic but still managing to keep the various aspects of the project on track in a ‘live’ and active school.

“Our relationship with Morgan Sindall Construction goes back five years across the primary school development and then this current project. Throughout this time, we have found them to be highly professional and considerate to the needs of the college and the fact that they have managed to deliver this project ahead of schedule is impressive under the circumstances.”

Alice Smyth, East Sussex County Council Project Manager, said: “I am happy to state that Morgan Sindall Construction have done an exceptional job, particularly given the difficult circumstance – COVID-19, Brexit, economic instability – during the life time of this project. 

“As always, it is a pleasure to work with the Southern Home Counties team at Morgan Sindall Construction. In addition to their professionalism, the culture they bring to the job is friendly, open and pro-active. Having now worked with Morgan Sindall Construction on several jobs for East Sussex County Council, I have come to have full confidence in their ability to deliver not only the client brief but also engage fully to the complete satisfaction of all stakeholders.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Robson .