Terrapin at the double in Addlestone Moor

Urgent accommodation needs of a Surrey school have been met thanks to a quick and easy flat pack solution from offsite building specialist Terrapin.

Philip Southcote School, in Addlestone Moor, is a special school for children with learning difficulties, catering for pupils ranging in age from 11 to 16.

Terrapin's solution, using its Unitrex panel system, provided two single-storey double classroom units to replace three existing temporary buildings which were in a poor state of repair.

The new Terrapin buildings, with a total area of over 200m2 and clad with a Stenni lightweight aggregate finish, include lobby, office, stores and toilet facilities as well as four 54m2 classrooms.

Access has been upgraded with ramped approaches to comply with Part M of the Building Regulations.

Headteacher Richard Horton says the new buildings were urgently required to enable the school to continue fulfilling its brief to offer small group timetabling.

In addition to erecting the building, Terrapin, working with consulting and business services group Mouchel , handled all groundworks, including demolition of the old buildings, in just seven weeks.

"The project actually over-ran by a week as a result of foundation problems - relating to existing drainage - which were not apparent until the old buildings were removed".

"But the Terrapin team competently took this in their stride," says Mouchel's Senior Building Surveyor, David Waite.

The Unitrex "flat-pack-building" system from Terrapin offers flexibility of design and quality of construction combined with exceptional value and speed.

Ideal for temporary or permanent low-rise building projects - such as offices, nurseries and schools, clubhouses, health clinics and surgeries - both options use common system components, but offer financial solutions to suit end-client needs.

Furthermore, both options can include foundations and provision for services such as plumbing, electricity and air conditioning to deliver an enhanced building performance.

Terrapin is a privately owned company and is one of the UK's leaders in offsite construction.

It has been expanding the potential of Modern Methods of Construction since 1949 and now offers a range of complementary MMC technologies that can be used individually or combined to create bespoke building solutions for every application; panel based technology, volumetric design technology and steel framed, element build technology.

Terrapin is the first company to be accredited under Buildoffsite's new supplier registration scheme operated by Lloyd's Register.

The scheme standardises all aspects of the offsite process and ensures best practice, offering clients confidence in the assured levels of competence, methodology and safe working of the accredited supplier.

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