Haverfordwest High VC School

Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire is a popular destination amongst many due to its unspoiled scenery and depiction of Welsh heritage. Within the community of Haverfordwest, there had historically been two schools; Tasker Milward VC School and Sir Thomas Picton. To improve the learning experience of the students within the community, both schools would close, be demolished, and reopen as one new school - Haverfordwest High VC School.

Key Stats

New Secondary School for 1500 pupils aged 11-16 and 250 6th form pupils
BREEAM Excellent
Delivered 2 weeks ahead of programme and to budget
SWWRCF framework
6416 School Engagement STEM Pupil Interactions
30 jobs created
Delivered during COVID-19 pandemic
100% project spend on SMEs

At a Glance

Client

Pembrokeshire County Council

Budget

£44.7m

Completion

September 2022

Location

Central & West (Cardiff)

Framework

South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework (SWWRCF)

Sector

Education, Secondary

Social value

£24.5 million

Sustainability

98% Waste Diverted from Landfill

About Haverfordwest High VC School

The Haverfordwest High VC School, which comprises of educational and sports facilities, accommodates 1500 students aged between 11-16, and 250 sixth form students. The project was jointly funded by Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Government under its Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, a long-term investment plan for schools and colleges to help develop them as hubs for learning and reduce poor conditioned buildings. The campus also includes a leisure facility occupied by Strength Academy Wales and is open for public use.

The external works included: playing fields, parking, coach drop-off, road alteration and landscape design, with retention and continued operation of the existing athletics track, all weather pitch and tennis courts during the construction stage.

The building envelope is brickwork to ground floor with composite cladding above, a standing seam roof, external aluminium windows and doors. The internal construction included dry line stud partition walls with a composite first floor deck and precast concrete elements to construct lift shafts, circulation stairs and hellerups.

Despite all the challenges this project faced, it was handed over two weeks ahead of programme and within the client’s budget.

One team approach

Delivered through the South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework, which supports a collaborative partnering relationship between the contractor and the client, our team adopted a one team approach to ensure the project was completed on time - particularly during a difficult COVID-19 period. Through utilising Morgan Sindall's Intelligent Solutions approach, we worked closely with the client project team, stakeholders, and end users by having detailed engagement meetings. This included the development of a customer charter which delivered a bespoke and specifically tailored project that met Pembrokeshire County Council’s key objectives.

The external building finishes were decided via a school/ pupil consultation and voting process, which gave the pupils a tangible input into the aesthetics of their new school. This included themes such as the colour scheme being implemented within the building.

Overcoming the challenges

The Haverfordwest High VC School project was naturally going to be challenging due to its geographical location. This meant many of our supply chain partners were unable to operate in the area – something which is a key target on our projects with ensuring local spend. In order to meet localism targets, we developed a supply chain of approved local subcontractors. This included Groundwork’s contractor Evan Pritchard who have been based in Pembrokeshire, West Wales for over 50 years. Even with these challenges, our supply chain and collaboration with the client was crucial to the delivery of the project.

The COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact on a number of trades. Some of our subcontractors either ceased trading or would need to self-isolate during the pandemic. This resulted in a shortage of labour on the sites which meant we had to undertake resequencing of the programme to adapt the use of resources on the project.

The project team successfully completed the project two weeks ahead of programme, which demonstrated a real testament to a collaborative working arrangement between the client, supply chain and our project team.

Modern Methods of Construction - LiDAR

As the industry progresses into using innovative techniques, particularly digital techniques, Modern Methods of Construction was utilised via the use of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). LiDAR in the context of construction is a surveying method that uses laser light pulses to collect 3D coordinates from the earth’s surface. The LiDAR would take a laser image of the building and generate a model which would present details of the building. The use of LiDAR was beneficial as it enabled our team the opportunity to have swift and precise surveys of the project before it commenced. During the build, LiDAR also created 3D models of the scanned areas, which meant the team were able to accurately understand whether the designs would be practical or identify and potential safety risks.

Delivering a total of £24.5m in Social Value which was 60% of the project cost, the Haverfordwest High VC School project went a long way delivering on its specific objectives to support the Pembrokeshire community.

Social Value was created through a strong partnership with local organisations including Cyfle Building Skills and Pembrokeshire College. Funded by the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Onsite Experience Commission, Cyfle delivers a training programme aimed at supporting the next generation and tackling the skills gap within the construction industry. We welcomed eleven full-time construction students onto the project who came through the Cyfle scheme. They gained ten days paid work experience on this project, providing students with a platform to explore the wide range of career opportunities available in construction, and enabling informed decisions about what to pursue next. It was a huge success.

Throughout this project we ensured the students of Haverfordwest were informed about the progress of their new school. However, during the pandemic, it became very challenging to maintain this. Typical engagement activities such as site tours, assemblies and classroom-based activities were cancelled due to the worldwide pandemic and resulting restrictions. The team flipped this digital with regular newsletters, and progress updates via Teams which were live streamed to 65 classrooms and watched by 1396 pupils and 105 staff.

Following the completion of the project, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal officially opened the new Haverfordwest High VC School on the 14th October 2022. The event was well attended by many including: His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Dyfed, Miss Sara Edwards accompanied by Lord-Lieutenant Cadet Martha Ashcroft, together with The High Sheriff of Dyfed, Rowland Rees-Evans Esq, school pupils, staff, governors, trustees, representatives from Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council. The construction of this new school has been regarded as ‘landmark moment’ in the history of education.