The Weald School, West Sussex

The Weald School is an OFSTED ‘outstanding’ mixed comprehensive school for 11 to 18 year olds, teaching around 1,600 students, one of the highest performing non-selective sixth forms in the South of England.

With a reputation for excellence - academically and in its student’s behaviour - The Weald’s popularity meant expansion and redevelopment was required to accommodate more pupils.

Based on a pleasant 25-acre site, the large school already has exceptional facilities allowing it to offer a varied range of academic and vocational courses, including all-weather floodlit sports pitches, gym and swimming pool. And now, following a £10.3 million grant, significant expansion is underway, with works due for completion in 2017.

The redevelopment includes a three-storey in-fill teaching block with high-tech classrooms covering a range of subjects; extra science, drama and music provision, plus new ICT infrastructure. In addition, the school will benefit from improved kitchen facilities, the erection of a roof to provide a two-storey covered dining space, a dedicated recycling area and enhanced sixth-form space.

The finished school will be able to increase its capacity from 1,500 to potentially 1,900 children.

To ensure the piped services meet the schools modern functionality, Geberit Mapress, in copper and carbon steel, has been used for heating and hot water throughout the new buildings, offering benefits in terms of its ease and speed of installation and no hot works credentials.

These benefits have impressed West Sussex council so much that it will be adopting Mapress for all future school works, with additional projects planned for later in 2017.

“Mapress is a tried and tested product that proves itself time and time again. It’s so easy and quick to install and the fact there’s no hot works makes it suitable for a wider range of applications, while improving safety and reducing risk for the buildings we work on and our staff.”

Tim Philips, Tugwell Heating.