Member Article

Landmark Kenilworth school on track for successful delivery

Work at one of the biggest schools currently in construction in the UK is well underway, with phase one of the £44 million development now complete.

Morgan Sindall Construction is delivering the scheme on behalf of Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust (KMAT) in Warwickshire who are working in partnership with Warwick District Council. The project will see Kenilworth School & Sixth Form relocated from its two existing sites to a new facility at Southcrest Farm, Glasshouse Lane in Kenilworth.

The new three-story campus will have 2,200 places on offer, an increase of 440, helping to cater for the growing population in Kenilworth, a market town six miles south west of Coventry. The build programme is due to complete in the summer of 2023 with the school opening to existing and new students in September 2023.

The design includes extensive teaching and social provision including two floodlit All-Weather-Pitches, natural grass pitches and hard-court areas; a dining room with “grab-and-go” options, hall and theatre, community sports and changing facilities and a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) suite. Solar panels will be installed on the roofs and the car park and drop-off zone will include electric vehicle charging points, disabled parking and bicycle stores. The scheme includes wild-plant and habitat areas including an orchard, perimeter hedges and trees.

Once the works are complete, the community and local sports clubs will have use of new sports and leisure facilities and community groups will be able to hire the hall/theatre and other facilities at the school. The local air cadet group, 496 (Kenilworth & Balsall Common) Squadron, will also be invited to share the facilities.

Richard Fielding, area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “We’re delighted to be delivering this landmark project on behalf of KMAT and for families living in the Kenilworth area. Schools are absolutely at the heart of the community and the state of the art educational space and sports facilities consolidated on a single site will make a huge difference.”

Phase one of the enabling works are now complete, which involved cut and fill techniques to level the previous farmland. The Morgan Sindall Construction team is now working on the school’s steel frame.

At the development’s peak, there will be 200 people on site, a proportion of those will be made up of local labour as part of Morgan Sindall Construction’s commitment to communities. The scheme will also employ an apprentice supply chain manager from Kenilworth Sixth Form who will join the contractor’s growing legion of graduates and apprentices on site.

Pupils are being engaged in the on-going works. “So far, we have gifted a shovel engraved with the names of those involved in the ground-breaking process and time capsules for the school to bury for future pupils to discover,” added Richard Fielding. “We are also planning to sponsor the school’s rugby team and contribute towards its upcoming trip to Canada. We are working closely with ecologists on site to protect local wildlife, including newts and hedgehogs, and we will replant the existing bluebells. The school’s green team joins us occasionally and it’s extremely encouraging witnessing how important the environment is to them.”

Over the past five years, Morgan Sindall Construction has created over 65,000 student places at over 170 schools around the UK. Once complete, KMAT will join a long list of educational facility projects built by the contractor in the Midlands, including: Castleward Primary School, Ravensdale Primary School, Hackwood Primary Academy and Rosecliffe Spencer Academy.

The school is being built under the PAGABO national framework, which Morgan Sindall Construction was appointed to in 2020.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harriet Logan .