A bitter-sweet moment as our journey at Hundred of Hoo Primary Academy comes to an end. The school was recently completed and handed over for the start of the Autumn Term 2023.
The primary school underwent a two-storey expansion creating a seamless continuation from the existing buildings to the newer spaces.
Works included providing 8 new classrooms and associated amenities for the students. The school’s existing early years outdoor play area was relocated to provide a newer facility for the children to enjoy. The existing car park has been reconfigured to allow for safer drop offs whilst also creating another entrance – helping with the busyness on the main road. Uniquely, one of the main ways that the school is heated is by the exposed pre-cast concrete floors that absorb and manage heat.
By providing the students with a new space, we expect to see an increase in their mental wellbeing whilst they learn in fresh and new functional spaces. Equally, the surrounding community also benefits as housing in the area has proven to be increasing at a rapid rate. The need for more places for pupils in the evolving area became evident and Hundred of Hoo has provided for this need. In hindsight, the school was originally designed and built to allow for another form of entry expansion and local housing needs in the area followed.
The benefit to the local community gives Dom Mulford, one of our dedicated Senior Project Surveyors, great pleasure to be a part of. Betteridge and Milsom have been working on this project since the very early stages of RIBA stage 2 and it’s been an honour to see this project through to completion. Throughout our journey, excellent and collaborative teamwork was evident within all parties involved. This allowed for a well-run project allowing us to deliver on time and affordably within budget. We acted as Quantity Surveyor and Employer’s Agent on behalf of our client Medway Council for Leigh Academies Trust.
Though the Hundred of Hoo project was seamlessly delivered, there were obstacles that we were able to work through. The site unfortunately suffered from surface water issues and the overall construction wasn’t facilitated by supply issues that the contractor later experienced.
Despite these obstacles, we were able to deliver above and beyond and we’re proud to say that we were a part of this journey. A massive well done to all those involved, and we hope to see the students enjoy the spaces we helped to create.
“It was a pleasure to be involved in an excellent project providing a much needed expansion to an existing Primary School in Hoo to meet the local demand. The high levels of collaboration between all project parties enabled the scheme to be handed over on time for the new term in a challenging geographical and economic environment” – Dom Mulford
