Partner Article

Roan secures £1.6m project with 3D animation

Roan Building Solutions has been appointed to deliver a £1.6m sixth form world-class facility which will be used by one of the UK’s leading and popular grammar schools to deliver its international curriculum.

Tonbridge Grammar School in Deakin Leas, Tonbridge is working in partnership with Roan Building Solutions and structural engineers – Lakehouse Construction - to deliver a sustainable, two-storey, modular building in just 14 weeks.

As part of its tender, Roan developed and submitted a 3D animation of the new build. This helped the school visualise how the new sixth form study centre would look on completion. It also demonstrated why Roan’s modular system is superior to traditional build in how quickly it comes together while neither compromising budgets nor quality.

“Modular buildings are becoming increasingly popular in the education sector due to their versatility and speed of delivery but some school decision makers struggle to pull free of their prejudices based on the 1960s and 1970s pre-fabricated units they were often educated in,” says Matt Goff, sales director at Roan Building Solutions.

“To overcome this, we created a 3D animation which showed how the building would look, its sustainability credentials and how it would add to the school’s landscape.”

On site construction started in December 2014. On completion, Roan gives a 60-year structural design life guarantee. Site works include the demolition of changing rooms and infilling a swimming pool before creating ground floor facilities encompassing a café and flexible recreational areas. The first floor will include a staff area as well as two classrooms, an ICT suite and seminar facilities.

The ‘need for speed’ has been fuelled by a sharp rise in demand for places plus a highly competitive funding mechanism which required the building to be created within a tight timeframe.

“As one of the highest performing, international baccalaureate (IB) schools in the UK, we needed a sixth form study centre fit-for-purpose for teaching the IB curriculum ie: robust and flexible study areas and quiet facilities to enable students to both keep pace with the demands of their courses and read around their subjects.

“The centre will also serve to put older students at the heart of the school. Younger students will be able to look up to their sixth form role models,” says Adrian Pitts, Tonbridge Grammar’s Assistant Head Teacher.

“Once complete, the centre will provide the ideal learning space for those preparing for university as well as be flexible to accommodate meetings, masterclasses and exhibitions.

“Roan’s anticipation in how best to respond to our needs and creativity were key factors in our decision. From the outset they understood the school’s ethos with health and safety always in mind.

“We had not really considered modular build but the 3D animation changed our minds. It provided the extra insight which helped us see beyond bricks and mortar and proved that Roan not only understood but also shared our vision,” said Adrian.

This will be Roan’s second BIM project following its commitment to fully implement it within the business by July 2015.

Tonbridge Grammar School became a co-educational institution in 2002 and has Academy status. It teaches girls between the age of 11 and 16 with a co-ed sixth form. In 2014 it was voted the Sunday Times’ State Secondary School of the Year and International Baccalaureate School of the Year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Roan Building Solutions .