Lindum constructed a single storey, timber framed extension to Fernwood Primary and Nursery School on behalf of Nottingham City Council.

The building was part of the client’s developing Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) strategy and was designed to accommodate children with high level complex needs, primarily related to Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Lindum was appointed to act as Principal Designer and Main Contractor to manage the pre-construction and construction phases of the scheme. Work involved demolition of an old Scout hut to make way for the new structure, which was programmed to coincide with the October half term to eradicate noise and disturbance of existing children.

We demolished the Scout hut in situ and replaced it with a new building incorporating one large classroom space which can be divided up as needed and with appropriate equipment/furniture; two DWCs with a hoist/changing bed; storage space; a cooking / kitchenette room; staff office space and cleaning room.

Our design incorporated sensory classrooms and calming, breakout spaces (fitted with colour-changing, ambient lighting). The project also required a separate outdoor space which was separate to the main school play space.

The room areas were based on the recommendation of Building Bulletin 104, 2015; and an allowance was made for a mix of ambulant and physically disabled pupils.
The finished building’s structure was of timber frame and it was installed with a fixed H track hoist.

The council used the Scape RCf to award the contract to Lindum and it recorded high scores against Framework KPIs, including 10/10 for client satisfaction.

It was important that the building was energy efficient, and we were targeted to achieve an air leakage of 5 m3/hr/m2 @50Pa. We achieved 3.3, meaning it will retain heat and be even cheaper for the school to run.