Morgan Sindall Construction’s Northern Home Counties team has been appointed as preferred bidder to deliver a new £36m low carbon six form entry secondary school in Aylesbury for Buckinghamshire Council.
Kingsbrook Secondary School is expected to open in time for the 2022 academic year and will be situated within the wildlife-friendly Kingsbrook housing development, where Morgan Sindall Construction is currently on site delivering Kingsbrook View Primary Academy.
Both projects are being delivered under the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), a quality-managed collaborative construction framework for public bodies to procure major building works using a two stage open book process to deliver best value.
The development will include a new two and three storey 900-place secondary school, with 180 post-16 places. The school will also include a 32-place Special Educational Needs (SEN) unit to serve the Kingsbrook community. The main hall, sports centre and external sports areas will be available for hire outside of school hours for the benefit of the local community.
Work on the project is due to begin in spring 2021 and over 30 new job opportunities, including apprenticeships and graduate roles, will be created during the life of the project. Morgan Sindall Construction has also set up a dedicated training centre that will cover both its Kingsbrook projects and will work with Buckinghamshire Council to deliver training for people in the local community looking to reskill or explore new career options as part of the council’s Response to Redundancy pre-employment training scheme.
Kingsbrook is considered to be a flagship nature friendly development and a wide range of measures are being incorporated into the development to ensure that substantial benefits are delivered for wildlife. The design of the school will complement the wildlife friendly ethos of the wider Kingsbrook scheme.
The 10, 000 square foot low carbon school will incorporate a number of features to maximise efficiency and minimise wastage to improve sustainability. Air source heat pumps will service the majority of the building’s heating and hot water requirements — creating a huge reduction in the building’s carbon footprint. Modern methods of construction including Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) have also been incorporated to enhance the building’s thermal performance and improve airtightness — making the buildings easier to heat and maintain.
David Rowsell, Morgan Sindall Construction’s Northern Home Counties Area Director, said: “We’re delighted to be continuing our strong partnership with our valued and longstanding client Buckinghamshire Council and procurement partners at the Southern Construction Framework following our appointment as preferred bidder on this key development.
“Kingsbrook Secondary School will enhance the educational provision available for this fast-growing community and create a high quality, energy efficient building, in line with Buckinghamshire Council’s commitment to achieving zero carbon by 2050. We’re also pleased to be creating a positive legacy within the community — creating new jobs, and opening out access to training and skills development opportunities for people living locally.
“The Southern Construction Framework has helped to drive a focus on collaboration and communication that is vital at the design and early planning stages of a development. This has supported a smooth and strategic cost planning process and means the whole team and our partners are able to work together to leverage their experience and knowledge to add value before work on-site has even begun.”
Cllr Anita Cranmer, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for education and skills commented: “We look forward to the building of this school for our Kingsbrook community, which will not only provide for our vision of the best outcomes for every young person in Kingsbrook but will also link with our climate change aspiration for Bucks, ‘a better place in which to live’.
“The council supports the skills agenda and is pleased that many jobs and skills apprenticeships will be generated through this build process to support the growth economy in Buckinghamshire.”
