Steel frame of £5.6m Doncaster school development completed two months into construction

Contractors, Wates Construction welcomed students to visit the site of a new pioneering £5.6m free school in Doncaster to see the completion of the building’s steel frame.

Just 11 weeks after Wates began constructing the new school, which is located next to Keepmoat Stadium on Stadium Way, the ceremonial ‘bolt tightening’ took place.

Students of XP School and Headteacher, Andy Sprakes, all signed the final beam, which completed the 141 tonne frame, to commemorate the occasion.

The whole structure consists of 3,940 beams and 3,506 bolts, spanning a 2,954 sq m surface area half the size of the Keepmoat pitch.

Now the contractor will move onto the next phase of the bulding process, which includes the lifting of pre-cast flooring and roof beams as well as the installation of the floor slabs.

Designed by CPMG, the new two-storey school will become the teaching space for epoximately 350 students aged 11 to 19 years. The new building will include a main hall, drama spaces and an external multi-use sports field, which will also be used by Doncaster Athletics Club and Doncaster Rovers.

The new school is being funded by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and will be built on land previously owned by Doncaster Council.

Phil Harrison, managing director of Wates Construction North, commented: “We’re making excellent headway at the new XP School in Doncaster and the coming months will see the pace of construction really build momentum.

“The XP Trust offers an innovative curriculum and we’re working closely with the school to ensure that the new building delivers a learning environment that is equally as inspirational and will develop the young people of Doncaster in readiness for the world of work.”

Andy Sprakes added: “We’re delighted to see progress being made with the new building. Our students are pioneers for a new and powerful type of learning in the UK and it was a fitting tribute that they signed a beam that will exist as long as there is an XP school in Doncaster.”

Having taken its first intake of 50 students in September 2014, the XP School is currently operating from Keepmoat Stadium and is expected to move into its new building later this year.