Huge project to revamp Waterlooville schools including new windows, doors and cladding

Hampshire County Council has been granted a total of £8.330 million to renovate Crookhorn College and Hart Plain Infant School in Waterlooville, as well as a school in Winchester, in a plan backed by the Department of Education’s (DfE) Schools Condition Allocation, a grant for improving school buildings.

Universal services’ executive leader Cllr Nick Adams-King has given the green light to replace windows and doors, the cladding, and the roof coverings since they are at the end of their life, remove any asbestos if necessary, and upgrade fire precautions. The report said the buildings have very poor thermal performance, being cold in the winter and suffering from overheating in the summer.

On his decision day, Cllr Adams-King said: “There are a large number of these buildings that we traditionally had in Hampshire, and they are part of the ongoing program that upgrades them. This is obviously great news for these schools because they get much better facilities as a consequence.”

Director of universal services Patrick Blogg said that the proposal will improve schools’ thermal and environmental performance and make them energy efficient.

Mr Blogg said: “The actual recap will significantly improve the school’s thermal and environmental performance, which in turn benefits energy efficiency. The timing of this paper is quite key because it enables the work to be started over the summer during a period of the school holidays.

Cllr Jackie Branson, chair of governors of Crookhorn College, said she is “delighted” by the news, which will be “a great improvement for the school”.

Crookhorn College

Specifically, £3.450m will be designated at Crookhorn College, in Stakes Hill Road to reclad the Goodwood Block, built in 1960 and used for teaching English to students with some special educational needs and disabilities.

As part of the works, the existing brickwork, single glazing, and associated tiled panels will be removed, and the original building will be reclad with high-performance insulation and an external covering of brick slip panels. The existing windows and doors will also be replaced with thermal double-glazed pieces. Another important improvement will be to re-roof the flat roof to reduce heat loss during the winter.

By doing so, the school, which has around 900 pupils aged between 11 and 16, should see improvements in thermal and ventilation performance and internal comfort. Work is planned to start in the summer of 2024. Temporary classrooms will be installed to allow the lessons to continue. The project is expected to be completed in Spring 2025.

Hart Plain Infant School

A total of £1.4m will be spent replacing existing glazing with a thermally improved performance glazing system, over-roofing the roof with insulation and a high-performance roofing system, installing a natural ventilation heat recycling system, and replacing non-LED lighting.

Work will start at the school in Hart Plain Avenue, in Cowplain, at the end of summer 2024 and be completed by January 2025.

Henry Beaufort School

The works at Winchester’s Henry Beaufort School are estimated to cost around £3.48m, including the re-cladding of the Warsaw ‘S’ Block at the site.