Braintree College STEM Innovation Centre

Sports Hall Conversion to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Facility

Company: Cadman Construction Ltd | Category: Education

This Case Study comprises of the extensive conversion of a large existing sports hall building into a fully equipped and state-of-the-art STEM Centre, with the project brief to significantly improve and expand educational facilities at Braintree College.

The College at Braintree is a constituent further education establishment of the Colchester Institute and the project incorporated the challenging brief to incorporate an extensive layout of piled foundations to the existing hall floor prior to the construction of a large structural frame and upper floors to create the various teaching and engineering spaces.

The steel frame required careful management to create the multiple Engineering Workshops and teaching spaces from within the existing building envelope, designed to maximise available space whilst being managed safely and effectively around pupil and staff movements.

The fit-out phase of the project involved the careful design and co-ordination of complex Mechanical, Electrical and IT installations, which were designed to cater for the college's high demands for air changes, plant air extraction, welding equipment, CNC machinery and state of the art IT hardware.

The teaching spaces themselves were constructed to a high standard incorporating printed vinyl wall coverings and a carefully selected finishes specification to give the new building a fresh and contemporary feel. Following completion of the project the building has been very well received by staff and students and our client has substantially increased their facilities in preparation for the 2017-2018 academic year, for which the new facility will no doubt be an inspiration to many students that are looking to pursue careers in the Construction Industry.