Watford Primary School, Berkeley Group
CLIENT ADVISER
Sarah Williams
2017 – 2019
CLIENT
Berkeley Group
LEAD ARCHITECT
Lifschutz, Davidson Sandilands
SERVICES PROVIDED
– Strategic and detail brief development
– Schedule of accommodation and adjacency diagrams
– Procurement and risk input
– Strategies and research for vertical primary schools
– Design review and evaluation at all stages
– Input into stakeholder presentations
– Compliance and quality assurance with all guidance, regs, best practice
– Reporting and evidence for council members and officers
Challenges
Why was a Client Adviser required?
Berkeley homes are developing over 1000 new dwellings, flexible commercial space, carparking and associated works in Watford. As part of the development they were required to provide a new two-form primary school in a 106 agreement with the Local Authority.
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands are the architects and, with Berkeley Group, required the expertise of a client adviser with a specialism in educational design, to help develop the brief and ensure the proposals met all the regulations and requirements. No Principal or Trust was appointed during the design stages so in effect a ‘client’ was required to drive the design and proposals forward with the team. The school was also unusual due to a constrained site and so a vertical primary school design was proposed which required a particular design approach and some specific design requirements.
Outcomes
What value was created
School design and delivery was not a specialism of either Berkeley homes or the architects and so expertise was required during the development of the scheme. This was critical in order to convince the joint clients, Watford City Council and Hertfordshire County Council, that a 5-floor vertical school design would be contextual and operationally appropriate for any incoming school trust or principal. The Client Adviser was able to bring impartial and independent expertise and knowledge to support the process and development of the detail, in line with DfE regulations, requirements and guidance documents.
The client adviser ensured the brief and SOA were robust and that all guidance and regulations were adhered to. She also provided curriculum advice that enabled the testing of the design and evidence of how the school would operate day-to-day so that WCC and Hertfordshire could approve the scheme. Sarah worked closely with the architects and design team to refine the design and ensure that the scheme worked efficiently with all the detail requirements a primary school such as this would require.
Some of the changes that came about through design review and evaluation were; a reduction in the overall height of the school, so reducing vertical travel distances, the introduction of external play spaces at every level, the repositioning of stair cores to discharge directly onto play spaces, the repositioning of teaching spaces to ensure year groups were located on individual floors, relocation of the nursery to provide safe and secure access and general improvements in movement around the school and site, based on probable day-to-day operations.
Sarah advised at design and client meetings, enabling speedy decisions based on robust experience and advice. The school received planning approval in 2019.
Education Projects
