ISG lands £5.5m Glamorgan schools deal

ISG’s first Agilis project for the council, Ysgol Gymraeg Nant Talwg in Barry, was handed over last year. It was the first template school to be delivered in Wales.

The template has been deemed sufficiently successful to be used for two more schools, with a combined value of £5.5.

The Agilis template will be used for the new £2.2m Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant primary school in Llantwit Major and for the £3.3m Oak Field Primary in Barry – a new English language school on the campus of the existing Welsh language school, Ysgol Gymraeg Gwuan Y Nant. The existing school will also be refurbished as part of the contract.

 Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant will be constructed on the site of an existing school, which will remain operational throughout the programme. The 210-pupil, single-storey steel frame school will be constructed on a sloping site with a central learning zone leading to eight classrooms and a flexible sports/dining hall space. Through the use of advanced building materials and intelligent design, the new school will achieve an excellent EPC A environmental performance rating, ISG said. Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant will also have roof-mounted photovoltaic cells to generate solar power.

This project is set for completion ahead of the start of the new academic year in September.

The Agilis template will be modified at Oak Field Primary School, creating a two-storey building that addresses the restrictions of a confined site. The existing school on the Barry campus provides both English and Welsh language teaching and the scheme will create a standalone English language school for 210 pupils, with the project including a substantial refurbishment of Ysgol Gymraeg Gwuan Y Nant.

The new steel frame building will sit on piled foundations and have a double height hall and central learning zone, with classrooms positioned around these spaces at both ground and first floor level. The building is also designed to achieve an EPC A environmental performance rating and have roof-mounted photovoltaic panels. Completion here is scheduled for summer 2015.

ISG western regional director Jon James said: “Both projects demonstrate the inherent flexibility of the Agilis schools template, with modifications being introduced to both of these schemes to address specific site conditions. Agilis provides a fast and high-quality roll out solution for the Vale of Glamorgan County Council, which has embraced this new construction process and methodology to great effect.”

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