Working in Partnership To Keep Schools Safe

Our Client

King Alfred School is a co-educational independent school on the edge of Hampstead Heath. Founded in 1898, the school serves 600 pupils from age four through to the sixth form. The school has remained true to the core tenets of its founders who wanted to provide an education that focused on what was best for the whole child, on the development of character and individuality. Facilities include ICT labs, sports facilities, libraries, teaching rooms, design and science laboratories and a new sixth-form centre.

The Challenge

The school campus at King Alfred’s is complex and comprises several buildings which have been developed separately over several decades. Inevitably these buildings all bring with them a range of challenges because of the way they were constructed, building regulations at the time and the age of the structures.

In a busy school environment, sockets switch plates and other items are subject to heavy use and are frequently damaged. Left unchecked, this damage may be immediately dangerous or could become a more significant problem if left without repair or replacement.

Education institutions are particularly challenging because of the demand placed on electrical supplies. Lighting systems, for example, are used constantly to create an effective learning environment in the classrooms and to ensure safe access around the buildings – this is especially important during the colder months when there is less daylight. Alongside this, emergency lighting is a critical issue and one which is checked as part of the Ofsted inspection. These systems fail regularly and frequently require new batteries.

Our Approach

We work in partnership with the senior team and maintenance staff at the school, providing an extensive range of electrical services that ensure that all school users are kept safe. We work hard e in the background, monitoring and testing systems, carrying out ECIR and PAT tests and performing regular monitoring and tests on electrical infrastructure.

We regularly check emergency lighting systems and have carried out multiple new installations and rewires in many of the buildings on the campus, including the installation of new large-capacity main cables from the local substation to new buildings on site. This has included new switchgear and subsequent testing and deployment to ensure that the new building systems function correctly and safely.

We have also delivered other projects for this client, including the installation of heating and plumbing systems, HVAC solutions, fire alarms and building projects, from individual projects such as floor restoration to full refurbishment and new builds.

The Results

We have built a strong relationship with King Alfred School – it is a testament to the quality of our work and our partnership philosophy that the client is keen to continue our relationship. King Alfred is one of several schools we work with.

Our skilled team tackles complex challenges and is familiar with the issues associated with electrical systems in school sites – which often include ageing buildings alongside brand new investments, as well as the additional complexities of providing infrastructure suitable for a range of specialist educational equipment.