Hampshire County Council

Buildings Land and Contracts Panel Item 7

9 December 2003

Executive Member - Policy and Resources

11 December 2003

Eggars School, Alton

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

1

Summary

1.1

Eggars School is located off London Road, Holybourne in Alton, at the edge of the town in a semi-rural area in close proximity to Treloar College. The school was built in the 1960's and is predominantly of single-storey SCOLA construction. It has been recently reclad as part of a county-wide programme to replace ageing and poor performing SCOLA cladding systems. It now benefits from a much improved façade to the main entrance and other elevations.

1.2

The total cost of the scheme is £1,846,000, excluding fees. An allocation of £743,000, excluding fees, has been made in Education's 2003/04 Capital Programme, with School devolved capital of £173,000, excluding fees, NDS Modernisation contribution of £65,000, excluding fees and £688,000, excluding fees from the Eggars Trust Fund.

1.3

The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services has progressed the design of the proposed additional accommodation and the purpose of this report is to outline the design proposals and seek approval to the attached design project appraisal.

2.

Scope of the Works

2.1

It is proposed to build a new IT classroom block and Sports Hall at the School. The new buildings will comprise of four new classrooms and a four court sports hall. In addition to this accommodation there are a number of ancillary spaces in each building, including an IT workshop, store room and curriculum office in the IT block, and changing and store/staff rooms in the sports hall. Internal alterations are also proposed to convert the existing IT classroom into a new science laboratory.

2.2

The proposed new buildings are located to the northwest of the existing school buildings. The proposed new sports hall entrance is located adjacent to the covered walkway of the main circulation route of the school, allowing direct access for pupils and the community. The proposed new IT block is located facing the new sports building, forming a courtyard space.

2.3

The site for the new buildings is currently occupied by the school football pitches and this gently sloping land will be levelled to create a consistent ground level for the new building. Landscape works associated with this scheme include a low mound around the sports hall to help reduce the mass of the building, tree planting to screen the glazed facades of the sports hall, new hard landscaping to provide footpaths linking the buildings and new external hard play areas.

3.

Funding and Timing

3.1

An allocation of £743,000, excluding fees, has been made in Education's 2003/04 Capital Programme, School devolved capital of £173,000, excluding fees, NDS modernisation contribution of £65,000, excluding fees and £688,000, excluding fees from the Eggars Trust Fund

3.2

Subject to the necessary approvals it is anticipated that tenders will be invited during January 2004, work will commence on site during April/May 2004 and be completed during April/May 2005.

4.

Procurement

4.1

A framework contractor is about to be appointed for the nearby Amery Hill project. There are potential benefits in combining the two projects by sharing management costs, re-use of excavated material and economies of scale with sub-contractors. It is therefore proposed to procure this work through a managed two-stage Develop and Construct arrangement with Mowlems, the same framework contractor as on the Amery Hill project. This will be a partnership arrangement linked to the Major Projects Framework Agreement.

Recommendation

That the Buildings Land and Contracts Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that the design project appraisal be approved.