October 24, 2017

Kents Hill Campus

Kents Hill Secondary and SEN Schools are nearing completion on site. These steel-framed schools are part of the £27 million campus that includes the neighbouring primary school, also designed by AKS Ward and its CORDE joint venture partners adp and KJ Tait. The images highlight the successes of the project, such as the energy efficient design, multiple outdoor sports facilities as well as a unique link-bridge offering level access to the main school.

It has been a varied and challenging project with a fast-paced construction programme: all three schools and the sports hall were constructed simultaneously and in a sequence different from the original design intent. Critical to the realisation of the schemes was close collaboration among CORDE, client and contracting partners, as well as pooling knowledge and resource across AKS Ward offices in London, Oxford and Birmingham.

 

We are proud to have been a part of this framework and offer our best wishes to  staff and pupils in their new home due for completion in December 2017.

July 18, 2017

Steel Frame Gets PR Mention in NSC

Technical Director in our Oxford branch, Oliver Fyson, narrates at length on the intricate design of the steel frame for an Oxford University Department of Chemistry building, currently in design.

Read more

May 8, 2017

Farnham Mill Care Home

The Farnham Mill Care Home for Woodlands Hillbrow is progressing well on site, with scaffold being dropped on one wing revealing the striking contemporary elevation. In addition to the 60-bed care home, the £9m project also includes 16 shared equity affordable homes. Our services were not restricted to the buildings but include a new access road from the A325 along with realignment of the A325 link from the busy A31. The on-site access road included culverts to maintain the watercourses running through the site.

Completion is scheduled for later this year.

February 20, 2017

PR Mention in NSC Magazine

A comprehensive dissection of the design process that went into the construction of the Romford Leisure Centre has been published in the  New Steel Construction  publication, which includes a quote from our Sophie Onoufriou (Project Engineer), and features a 3D model of the steel structure by our Martin Parker (Senior CAD Technician).

February 8, 2017

Romford Leisure Centre Nearing Completion

Our Engineer, Alex Parry, has attended site to monitor progress on the eagerly anticipated Romford Leisure Centre site. The superstructure supporting the ice rink is nearing completion, and the pool excavation has begun.

The new multi-use four-storey leisure centre for Havering Council will provide state of the art facilities; a 25m eight-lane swimming pool with movable floor, learner pool, suspended ice rink with approximately 800 spectator seats, gymnasium, and cafe. The design posed interesting challenges. Ensuring the structure was robust enough to support the elevated ice rink (located above the main swimming pool) and working with specialists to determine all the details for temperature and vapour control between the extremely different environments required, was a real buzz.

A particular design challenge overcome by the design team involved construction of the new centre on the footprint of an existing building with piled foundations.

The project has recently been featured in  New Steel Construction Magazine

Watch a time lapse video of the new construction by  Havering Council

Architect: Saunders & Boston | Contractor: Wilmott Dixon