Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

1) Executive Summary

This report seeks approval to the design proposal for a new Theatre at Wildern School, Hedge End.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

· Although funding for the project has already been approved (subject to Eastleigh Borough Council's cabinet approval) this report outlines the estimated costs and sources of funding.

· Any significant issues from either the Risk or Combined Impact Assessment which will need to have specific attention in the design or implementation of this project.

· The detail of the proposed design is laid out for approval.

1) Scope of Work:

1.1. To construct a new 308 seat theatre at Wildern School to provide improved arts facilities for local schools and the community in the Hedge End area.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. Wildern School is a large comprehensive secondary school that plays an important part in the surrounding community. The school is located at Wildern Lane, Hedge End, within a largely residential area. The campus comprises a number of diverse buildings of differing ages, heights and construction. The School's net capacity provides 1,806 places and there are currently 1,830 pupils (11-16 years) on roll.

2.2. Eastleigh Borough Council has established that there is a need to improve arts facilities in Hedge End following the recent and forecast increase in new housing. A flexible drama-focused performance venue is envisaged to complement the dance focus of The Point in Eastleigh and the music focus of Thornden Hall in Chandler's Ford.

2.3. Wildern School is considered to be a logical location for the proposed theatre, because of its complementary use with the existing community facilities on the site. The D@rt building already has a large foyer with box office and servery and attaching the proposed theatre to the D@rt allows the new building to benefit from existing front-of-house facilities, whilst keeping the size of the new facility down.

2.4. The theatre will be used predominantly by Wildern and other local schools during the school day. Out of school hours, the building will be programmed for community and professional use.

2.5. The project will be principally funded by Eastleigh Borough Council, with a contribution from the School. It is proposed, as the project will be built on County Council land, to manage the building contract arrangements through this Council's Capital Programme. This best suits the nature of the project and enables the Council to control and formally manage works on site. This is an excellent example of two authorities working together to provide improved joint facilities for the local community, in line with current central and local government initiatives.

2.6. The scheme will be procured through the IESE framework contract. It is anticipated that works will commence on site during January 2010 and be completed during December 2010.

2.7. The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services has progressed the design proposals for the scheme at Wildern School and the purpose of this report is to outline and seek approval to the proposals.

2.8. The proposed scheme will maximise wellbeing and enhance the quality of place by providing a purpose-built theatre facility for use by local schools and the community.

2.9. Given the particular nature of this project, management agreements will be put in place between the three parties (Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and the School) to ensure that responsibilities and future maintenance obligations are agreed prior to a contract being let. More joint projects in the future are expected to be agreed on a similar basis and so establishing a template on this project for a legal agreement between two authorities will be time well spent.

3) Finance:

3.1. Capital Expenditure:

a) The Capital Expenditure has already been approved; the following tables outline the breakdown its distribution across the project:

* The means by which the difference between the Current Estimate and the Capital Programme allocation is to be met are shown in the table below:

3.2. Sources of Funding:

a) Building Cost:

Net Cost = £2,083 per m²

Gross Cost = £2,942 per m²

b) Furniture & Equipment:

To be funded from the overall project budget.

3.3. DCFS Co-location Funding

A successful bid to the DCFS Co-location Fund has resulted in an additional £700,000 being available for this scheme. The funding will be used to provide a range of enhanced facilities that will add value to the project and make the building more flexible in use. This will include additional specialist equipment, enhanced finishes and sustainable features which would otherwise not be included because of limits to the funding envelope.

3.4 Revenue Issues:

Overview of Revenue Implications:

Please Note: The overall level of the revenue budget for funding schools will (from April 2006) be prescribed by central government, and capital projects have no bearing on the level of this budget. Therefore, this proposed project will have no bearing on the overall level of the Children's Services budget, extra costs and savings being met from the same overall schools' funding level.

3.5 Energy Costs:

The estimated annual energy consumption for the new accommodation will meet that required by current Building Regulations. The estimated energy cost is £23,156 (£26.39 per m²/year) with 155 tonnes CO².

4. Risk & Impact Issues:

Please see Appendix A for a summary of the risk and impact issues considered in relation to the design of this project.

5. Details of site and existing Infrastructure:

5.1. The site is bounded by the residential development of Taplin Drive, Allison House and Simmons Close to the north, Grange Road and Dundry Way to the east beyond the school playing fields and a substantial belt of landscape planting adjacent to the residential dwellings of Allen Road to the south. The site borders Shamblehurst Primary School to the west.

5.2. The campus comprises a number of diverse buildings of differing ages and heights, ranging from single to two-storey, linked by courtyards and footpaths. These buildings have been extended in a number of areas, the most recent being a dining extension which was completed this year. A range of external building materials has been used throughout the campus, varying from brickwork to system cladding and render. Roofs are generally flat or pitched, with a metal profiled surface.

5.3. For the duration of the construction works, the contractor will avoid school pick-up and drop-off times for deliveries.

5. Scope of the Project:

6.1 The auditorium will seat 308 visitors split between the ground and first floors. The ground floor seating is provided by a retractable seating unit and a lowered area of demountable seats. A further tier of fixed seating is provided on the first floor.

5.2. The stage will be able to incorporate various layout permutations to suit a variety of performances. The accommodation will also provide a control box area and technical access grid and gantries. It is considered that the new building will work with the D@rt, or in isolation should the D@rt be closed. For this reason, the new theatre will have its own main entrance and foyer, with box office and bar, together with public toilets (to include accessible).

5.3. Performers' dressing rooms and toilets will be also be provided on the ground floor.

5.4. The accommodation will also include a scene dock and plant room.

6. The Proposed Building:

7.1 The proposed building will be located to the rear of the D@rt building, on an area currently occupied by temporary classrooms. These classrooms will be relocated elsewhere on the site during the summer holidays.

6.2. The ground floor plan has been developed to ensure that the backstage areas are at the rear of the building, so that the scene dock can benefit from the existing access road.

6.3. The external appearance of the building has been designed to give the theatre a strong identity for members of the public arriving from the main car park. The two-storey brick/render building will wrap around the south and west sides of the timber rainscreen clad auditorium.

6.4. The mechanical and electrical services have been designed to provide an economical building to operate and maintain. During performances, a mechanical ventilation system will be used to provide correct levels of ventilation and cooling. To maximise the efficiency of the system, a large heat exchanger will be installed to use the heat of the extracted air to pre-heat the incoming fresh air. Outside of performances, the ventilation plant will be run at a low level and heating will be provided if required by underfloor heating using the spare capacity in the connected D@rt building boilers.

6.5. The foyer space will be naturally ventilated through the glazed façade at high level.

6.6. Mains services are considered to be adequate for the proposed extension.

7. External Works:

8.1 A new tarmac path will be installed through the wooded area to the north end of the theatre foyer.

7.2. The grass area between the proposed building and the playground will be reinstated on completion of the works.

7.3. The area to the west of the proposed building may be redeveloped as a play area.

8. Planning:

A detailed planning application was submitted during May 2009.

9. Building Management:

Arrangements for management of the building are still under discussion. A further report on these issues and EBC potential involvement may be made to a future meeting of the Panel and the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.

10. Professional Resources:

Mechanical and Electrical )

Quantity Surveying ) Property, Business and Regulatory Services

Structural Engineering )

Architectural )

11. Consultations:

The following have been consulted during the development of this project and any relevant feedback can be seen in overview in Appendix B:

Local County Councillor; School/Governors; Children's Services; Fire Officer; Access Officer; Planning Department

Recommendations:

That the Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources:

That approval be given to the design proposal for a new theatre at Wildern School, Hedge End, at an estimated total cost of £3,800,000 (including fees of £495,000).

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

Appendix A

RISK & COMBINED IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Race and Equality Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

Crime prevention issues

The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report have no impact on the prevention of crime.

Fire risk assessment

In consultation with the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, a fire risk assessment concludes that this is a low fire risk category building. Therefore a sprinkler system will not be installed.

Health and safety

A designer's risk assessment and a design health and safety plan, in accordance

with the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2007, have been undertaken for the proposed scheme.

Climate Change

The technical brief for the theatre auditorium dictated that it needed to be artificially lit and mechanically ventilated, a number of measures have been proposed to offset the effect of this:

· New solar thermal panels will be fitted to the theatre roof to pre-heat water to the boilers in the connected D@rt building.

· The building will be constructed with high levels of insulation and very good air tightness to keep heat loss down to a minimum

· Very efficient air source heat pumps have been specified to provide heating/cooling of the air going into the auditorium

· Heat exchangers will also be installed as part of the ventilation plant to take the heat out of the exhausted air and re-use it to pre-warm the incoming fresh air

· At times when the building is not in `performance' mode, the ventilation system will provide only background ventilation and the heating will be provided by underfloor heating to reduce the energy use.

· Spare capacity identified within the existing D@rt boiler plant will be utilised to provide hot water for the new facility.

Appendix B

FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTEES:

OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS:

OTHER FORMAL CONSULTEES: