Customer: York St John College

Location: York

Requirement: York St John College is rapidly developing its facilities for students and staff, and a major new Learning Resource Centre has recently been constructed, incorporating a state-of-the-art Sports Science complex.

The redevelopment of another building complex meant that a large number of staff had to be temporarily re-housed. Many were relocated to offices elsewhere on the campus, but no accommodation was available for the Registry and Marketing teams. Temporary accommodation had to be found as quickly as possible, to enable redevelopment work to get underway.

Solution: The Estates team at York St John College was aware of the high-quality buildings Portakabin could provide, and so approached the modular building supplier for a solution to its accommodation shortage. The team was pleased to discover that, as well as the building, Portakabin could provide a complete range of office furniture and air conditioning for hire - to create a complete working environment.

Since the modular building would be used as the temporary Registry, many college staff and current and prospective students would need to visit the offices. Making the building accessible to all was therefore a key priority. Here again, Portakabin had a solution. The company was able to provide one of its latest ramp designs for the building at York St John College. The new style ramp is wider than previous models and meets the very latest disability access regulations. It is also designed to be more attractive than its predecessors, and blend in with its surroundings.

Portakabin took control of the whole project, from laying the foundations to installing the building and fully equipping it ready for use - including all electrical and data connections. The building now houses the 28 staff of the Registry and Marketing teams in spacious, bright, open-plan accommodation.

"We are very happy with the building and all the extras provided by Portakabin. We knew from the literature they send us regularly that they offered more than just buildings, and we were able to take full advantage of the one-stop-shop service they could provide.

"The service we received from the York Hire Centre was excellent. They kept us fully informed throughout the project, and always reacted quickly to any changes we made as we went along. It was a very painless process for us, and everything was arranged very quickly. Once we had placed our order, it seemed to take no time at all before we had complete temporary offices installed on site."

Keith Wilding, Estates Technician, York St John College