Customer: Luttons Community Primary School      

Location: West Lutton, Malton, North Yorkshire

Requirement:

Occupying an old Victorian building, Luttons Community Primary School needed to enlarge its early years teaching space to cater for the demands of the curriculum. The existing classroom for the school's youngest children was not large enough to provide all the separate areas required for early years education. A brick-built extension was found to be too costly, so the school decided to investigate alternative solutions.

Solution:

Early years teacher Sue Thackray, says: "We got in touch with Portakabin and one of their specialists came out to see us. He outlined all the options available, the process we would go through, what we needed to consider and advised us on how to proceed. It emerged that a Portakabin solution could provide us with precisely the facilities we needed, with no compromise on quality. Also, given our budget limitations, the building would be larger than any brick-built extension we could afford.

"Once we gained planning permission, we had to put the work out to tender. Portakabin offered the best value and won the contract. I visited the Portakabin site to view the options available and was involved from the very beginning in designing a bespoke classroom that met my requirements precisely."

The school chose a large Titan Building System modular classroom. The spacious building was designed to incorporate an entrance area and cloakroom, children's and disabled persons' toilets and a large open-plan teaching space. This area is divided into separate activity zones, including a wet-play area with both an adult and child-level sink.

Despite tight deadlines, Portakabin delivered the building on the agreed date, at the end of the summer holidays. Such timely deliveries are assured by the unique Portakabin Customer Charter, which promises to deliver all buildings on time and on budget. Portakabin even promises that if it ever fails to meet this commitment it will provide an additional six months' product warranty, free of charge.*

Once the building was in position, the carpets were fitted and the building was connected to services. The children were able to move straight in at the start of the new term - just one week after the building was installed.

Sue Thackray adds: "We would never have been able to move in so fast if we'd built a brick extension. It meant the children could start the term in brand new facilities. We held an opening day for the new building. People from the local community and parents who came along were very impressed. It really is amazing - and I now have some very jealous colleagues in neighbouring schools who'd love a classroom like this.

"The children think it's wonderful too and I really enjoy teaching here. I have a class of 15 Foundation level, Year 1 and Year 2 children and they really benefit from the spacious environment. The classroom is actually big enough to cater for about 30 pupils.

"The service from Portakabin was excellent throughout. I was particularly impressed by their expertise. They often raised issues and made suggestions that we had not considered - ensuring that we got the best possible facilities within our budget."

* Terms and Conditions apply. A copy is available on request.