Northampton Schools PFI

Having worked with Northamptonshire County Council for the past 30 years, we were very keen to be involved in the new schools’ PFI alongside the Babcock & Brown/Galliford Try Consortium. Work has commenced on site as part of the £150 million agreement to rebuild or remodel 42 schools across Northampton as part of a major tier change to the education system. With completion of the entire works scheduled for 2008, the workload has been split between our three offices.

All of the sites were fully appraised with both geotechnical and environmental investigations prior to financial close so that there would be no surprises in the ground. Several backfilled quarries have been discovered together with poor ground at several sites which has required a range of foundation solutions from traditional to piling and ground improvement techniques.

Although the schools differ, architecturally common structural details have been applied across all projects to ensure that a consistent approach to maintenance over the next thirty years can be achieved and allow bulk purchasing.