SureStart, the government’s agenda to deliver childcare and education in an integrated way, is taking shape in Essex.

Southend Borough Council has embraced the SureStart programme and is developing Children’s Centres across the region. Two of the latest facilities, nursery buildings at Milton Hall Primary School in Westcliffe-on-Sea and Friars Primary School in Shoeburyness, fulfil the ambition of providing childcare, early education, health and support services for families with children under five years old.

But who knew government initiatives could be so colourful? Thanks to the combined efforts of a progressive design department at the Council and the expertise of prefabricated timber panel build specialist Framework Building Systems (formerly Framework CDM), the buildings, clad in bold, primary colours put the fun into functional.

The two buildings follow a similar plan form, but differ in appearance. “The intention was for them to be simple on the inside, but architecturally unique and striking on the outside,” explained a Framework spokesperson. “They follow a standard design paradigm, with a spine wall in the middle.”

The design concept came from the Council, but its original intention was to employ traditional build methods. However, when time and cost became a consideration, the decision was made to switch to timber construction and Framework was asked to “retro-fit” its panellised cassettes.

Framework generally favours a partnering approach between client and contractor from the beginning of a project, but wasn’t fazed by this late call to arms. “We prefer to be involved from the outset,” said Framework’s spokesperson, “but, equally, we’re also used to retro-fitting.”

London-based Living Architects was also brought on board the nursery school project, making planning condition “tweaks” relating to means of escape, door widths and so on.
The practice has also worked with Framework on several school projects, with the latter operating either as a contractor, or in a design and build capacity. And, while Framework has been involved in other types of building (such as Albert Court, the Baden Powell Outdoor Centre on Brownsea Island, the café at RHS Garden, Wisley and the British Antarctic Survey base, Halley VI), Living Architect’s Mike Irwin believes the company’s cassette system lends itself particularly well to nurseries and primary schools. “The type of spaces and spans they can achieve are well suited to these sorts of niche market projects,” he said.

The closed panels, prefabricated at Framework’s Bedford factory, are bespoke for each project, but typically comprise 140mm CLS with 14mm Bitroc sheathing, 9mm of OSB3 for the internal lining, plus insulation and vapour barriers. The cassettes include first fix electrical containment and insulation. With the latter, the type of material is up to the client – in the case of the two nurseries, mineral wool. The panels, which are strong and rigid enough to form the core structure in their own right, are tied with a glulam ring or head beam.

The central spine wall necessitated a ‘super-size me’ approach. Framework’s maximum cassette capability measures 15.5x3.6m and “this certainly pushed the envelope”. These large central panels provide additional structural support, something that would have been much tougher to achieve with traditional build methods.

The closed panels were pre-fabricated at Framework's Bedford factory

The off-site prefabrication phase of the project took a mere two weeks. “The cassette construction was very straightforward for us and we achieved efficiencies by doing the two projects at the same time,” said Framework.

The on-site time frame was just 16 weeks and the end result is a brace of nurseries featuring classrooms, breakout spaces, offices and so on. Despite the relatively small footprint – just 250m2 – the buildings are light and airy.

And the Council certainly fulfilled its wish for a striking appearance. In part, the buildings are clad with heartwood larch, but the majority of the elevations are clad in ‘in-your-face’ coloured Trespa panels.

They are unremittingly cheery buildings in what for some in construction has become a rather bleak world. Framework has had its own difficulties recently – cash flow problems resulted in the company going into administration for a brief period, but the strength of its product and business model was soon recognised by investment company MWB Associates and it re-emerged as Framework Building Systems, with Tony Wasikowski as managing director.

The company’s survival is no surprise to Mike Irwin at Living Architects, who says the premise of what it does is “very, very good”. And Framework hasn’t seen any fall-off in business, despite the current climate – “quite the reverse, in fact,” said its spokesperson, “and we’ve also seen an increase in the number of requests for our CPD lectures.

“In times of need we have to save time and money – so the future for panellised timber construction has to be better than other sectors.”

The Council fulfilled its wish for a 'striking appearance'

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