GEORGE HERIOTS - THE REFECTORY

Location: Edinburgh

Value: Undisclosed

Project Duration: 46 Weeks

Designer: LDN Architects

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Project Brief and Description

The Refectory Project is the most recent contract  that we have successfully delivered for  George Heriot’s School over the last 10 years such as The Sports and Exercise Centre and the refurbishment of a number of classrooms and administration areas. 

Our contract for the partial demolition of the existing Refectory Building and construction of a New Refectory with associated Wrap Around Care areas was agreed by negotiation between the client, their design team and ourselves. 

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Before the contract commenced, we assisted the client by carrying out enabling works during the schools summer holiday period which allowed them to provide a temporary Refectory on one of the terraced lawns. During the summer period we also carried out Asbestos Removal and Soft Strip of the existing Refectory and formed the protected access and egress corridor over the school playground ensuring that our site vehicle and pedestrian movements were safely isolated from the movements of pupils, staff and visitors.

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During our works on site we completed the removal of around 30% of the existing steel structure and extended the remaining steel structure with additional structural steel to increase the floor space and add the additional storey for the Wrap around Care department.

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The external walls were formed by infilling the steel frame with timber cassette panels which then received an outer leaf finish of masonry, zinc or render. The timber/aluminium composite windows were supplied by Velfac Ltd with a number of them receiving an architecturally designed boxed out zinc margin. The roof decks were formed of either single ply roof membrane or VM Zinc on insulation on Kingspan decking on metal purlins. Internally the floor make was vinyl flooring on floor screed with underfloor heating on insulation on new or existing structural floor slabs. Internal walls included both loadbearing block partitions and a mix of metal partition types which were finished in plasterboard with the large kitchen and survey areas being finished in Altro Whiterock. The internal ceilings were completed in a mixture of plasterboard, suspended ceilings, suspended timber batten acoustic ceilings and veneered ply.

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The building received a full Mechanical, Electrical & Data Installation, a full Kitchen and Servery Installation. Internal finishes included IPS systems to the washrooms, manufactured joinery components such as benches, ceiling panels and door sets which were manufactured in our in-house manufacturing facility, folding partitions, floor finishes and high quality decoration.

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Externally the building received a mixture of hard and soft landscaping which ensured that it seamlessly integrated with the surrounding school grounds.

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The project which was completed both on time and budget was very well received by the client and more importantly the pupils and staff, with the following comment being received from the Chairman of Governors which said “On behalf of the Board of Governors of George Heriot’s School, I write to thank you and all of those involved with John Dennis & Company (Scotland) ltd for delivering our excellent and fit for purpose new Refectory and Wrap Around Care facility. It was obvious to all at the School that your company was giving its best throughout the entire project.”

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