Aganto installs temporary building

Stocklake Park Community School has had a floor level trampoline installed, housed within a fully Part L2A compliant temporary building from Aganto.

Located in Aylesbury, Stocklake Park Community School caters for around 65 students between 11 and 19 years of age with severe and multiple learning difficulties.

As part of The Vale Federation, Stocklake School enjoys access to the brand new hydrotherapy pool at nearby Booker Park School and therefore had no further need of its own small hydrotherapy pool.

At the same time, the school was experiencing difficulties in getting severely disabled children onto the trampoline it uses to provide 'rebound therapy' for children with limited motor skills.

Rather than lose the 180 sq m facility altogether, it was therefore decided to relocate the trampoline into the empty pool, providing floor level access for the children.

However, the basic structure which had previously covered the pool did not provide the 5m clearance required for buildings which house trampolines and therefore needed to be replaced.

With temporary buildings being widely used to provide cost-effective cover for all kinds of leisure activities, the school naturally sought a traditional temporary building to house the new facility.

However, as the building required heating and would be in use for more than two years, it also needed to meet the requirements of Part L2A of the Building Regulations, something the vast majority of temporary buildings are unable to achieve.

Faced with the prospect of spending valuable time and money on a permanent building but having already contacted temporary buildings specialist Aganto in developing the initial specification for the project, the school was delighted to learn that Aganto had recently launched the unique Part L2A range, providing all the benefits of a permanent building at a fraction of the cost.

The only product of its kind currently on the market, Aganto's Part L2A Range has the high level of insulation and air-tightness required to meet the mandatory U-values set out in Part L2A of the Building Regulations.

Walls are engineered from steel sandwich composite panels a minimum of 60mm thick and have the aesthetic qualities and finish of a permanent building.

On the Stocklake project, Aganto used Trisomet panels from Corus for minimum air leakage, maximum fire resistance and superior strength and thermal efficiency and worked closely with Corus during the design and build to achieve the robust detailing needed to meet Part L2A.

In addition to the building itself, Aganto supplied and installed internal walls, partitioning, doors and lighting, providing a turnkey solution for all the major external and internal works, overseen by an experienced, full-time project manager.

Providing the look, feel and structural integrity of a permanent building but without the need for traditional foundations and civil works, Aganto's Part L2A buildings can be erected in just four to six weeks, offering dramatically reduced design, labour and material costs.

At less than GBP100,000, the cost of the Aganto building was 80% lower than the GBP500,000 the school was quoted for a permanent building with the main works being completed in just 12 days and the entire project taking a little over four weeks.

Site Operations Manager for The Vale Foundation, Clive Bardell said: "Whilst we did find a couple other temporary building suppliers who could supply a building of roughly the right size and type, only Aganto were able to provide us with a building which met current Building Regulations and to offer a 'one-stop' solution.

"Of course, a temporary building has pros and cons - for example, the Aganto structure looks slightly more 'industrial' than a permanent building however, this is a small price to pay in return for the huge upfront savings and lower maintenance requirements in comparison with bricks and mortar.

The word temporary may actually be a bit misleading as we fully expect to be using the new facility for the next 20 years at least".

The new facility will be 'open for business' shortly, providing a fantastic resource for teachers and students and, with a number of outside organisations expected to pay to use the facility outside school hours, a source of much-needed revenue for the school.

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