VERGO UK REFITS FLOODED SCHOOL

Client

RIVERSIDE JUNIOR SCHOOL

Date

JULY 2017

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THE CHALLENGE

FLOOD water left 160 junior school pupils without classrooms and their management team facing a refurbishment predicament.  Riverside Junior School had planned to refurbish their first floor classrooms and assembly areas but when the River Calder burst its banks in December 2015 they had to focus instead on the ground floor.

Temporarily moving upstairs and creating primitive classrooms business manager, Sarah Kaler was under pressure to ensure the downstairs classrooms, IT rooms and dining room were repaired and refurbished as quickly as possible.  The insurance company were determined she would stay in budget and gave strict guidelines.

VERGOUK SOLUTION

Sarah immediately wrote a tender and invited four companies to bid for the work. VergoUK provided a comprehensive design including layout, furniture style and colour as well as costings.

“From the beginning it was clear VergoUK understood what we wanted to achieve. They created a full scope of works so we had a comprehensive plan to work to. Their plan included a visual that enabled us to see what the finished ground floor would look like. VergoUK also suggested using different types of furniture in different areas to boost pupil performance and get more for our budget.”

To make sure that Sarah could make informed decisions about furniture Simon Vaughan, MD, provided samples of furniture and fabric.  Using the school’s colour of jade they recommended contrasting colours including blues and greys to make it look and feel very individual.

Water flooding to 1.8metres high meant classroom walls had to be re-plastered and that meant construction work going on until the furniture was delivered with dust and builders’ rubble.  VergoUK managed delivery to avoid new furniture being adversely affected by that.

After a year Riverside was able to re-open and pupils move back into their classrooms.

Sarah was then able to turn her attention to the upstairs classrooms and public areas.

“VergoUK had been creative with the downstairs classrooms so we asked them to tender for the upstairs work.”

OUTCOME

Simon and his team were more creative than other contractors who bid for the work and added real value to help us get Riverside Junior School open and back to normal. “They were fantastic,” added Sarah.

“We were delighted to have been invited to work with Sarah and her team. Despite the challenges they’d faced in relation to running the school following the flood and the subsequent building works, they were a pleasure to work with and their collaborative approach to the project helped to ensure everything was completed on time, within budget and looking great!” said Simon Vaughan.