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When a fire at Hillmead Primary School in Bishop’s Stortford destroyed 90% of the school’s buildings, Hertfordshire County Council called in emergency and disaster-management specialists Mouchel to put things right. Only the hall, kitchen and offices were left undamaged, meaning that interim classroom accommodation for more than 200 pupils had to be found as quickly as possible, as well as high-quality secure storage facilities for the school’s valuable documents and equipment
Solution :Steve Beadle, Mouchel’s Team Manager for schools in Hertfordshire, says: “We have worked with Portakabin on many emergency-response projects over the past ten years and they have never let us down. We have built up a good working relationship and I know I can always rely on them to turn things around quickly. The quality of their buildings and their speed of response are excellent. We also work well with their installation teams to get jobs done on time. It means that now, whenever I need temporary buildings in an emergency, I immediately think of Portakabin – so they were the obvious choice for Hillmead School.”
Portakabin quickly attended the school to assess the site and the school’s requirements, and to recommend the best solution. Soon after, Mouchel placed an order for two advanced Arkive storage units, along with five Portakabin Titan classroom buildings and Portaloo toilet facilities.
The Arkive units were essential for housing the equipment and paperwork salvaged from the fire-damaged buildings. The large units offer an impressive 12m³ of high-security, fire-rated storage space. They are extremely airtight, protecting papers from damage caused by varying humidity levels and air pollutants, while the internal lights are fitted with polycarbonate opal diffusers to absorb UV radiation which could fade paperwork.
Steve continues: “The Arkive units were a very good solution for the school. Unlike most storage containers they came complete with a racking system that enabled the documents to be properly filed away, making them easily accessible throughout the interim period.”
All of the buildings were delivered to site on schedule by Portakabin, and installed ready for final fit out just eight weeks after the fire. Portakabin assures its customers of such timely deliveries with its unique Customer Charter, which promises that all buildings will be supplied on time and on budget. To back up this pledge, Portakabin even promises that if it ever fails to deliver on time, it will provide a week’s free hire for every day it is late.*
Having been accommodated at nearby schools since the fire, Hillmead’s 203 pupils and their teachers were delighted to move back to their own site and into their high-quality temporary buildings.
* Terms and Conditions apply. A copy is available on request.
