Window Refurbishment Project At Brentwood High School

In this case study, we explore the work carried out as part of a refurbishment project at Brentwood County High School in Essex, which involved replacing the steel Crittall windows with a higher thermal performing, double-glazed, slim profile window system that was in keeping with the original style of the building.

About The Customer And The Project

Brentwood County High School is a busy secondary school located in the town of Brentwood, Essex. Over the past two years, the school has been undergoing extensive refurbishment and renovations commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE), and overseen by main contractor Bowmer and Kirkland. As part of the refurbishment, the contractor needed all windows, curtain wall screens, and doors on the estate reviewed for replacement.

The main goal of the customer and the school was to have the majority of the work completed during the school holidays, to avoid disruption to lessons. It was also important that the refurbished and replaced windows reflected the architectural heritage of the building.

How We Helped

Our involvement started with a survey of all 442 windows in the school, as well as six doors and two curtain wall screens to ensure that each position fitted into the correct aperture. Following this, we provided new thermally broken slim site-lined double-glazed windows to the project, alongside external leadwork to match the style of the existing windows and comply with the conditions set by the local authority planning department. Each windowpane was treated with a solar control coating to improve thermal efficiency.

The Challenge

Our initial challenge was to align the glass specifications with the criteria set by the planners and the architect. The difficulty was that many glass suppliers were unable to provide the required solar control coating on the glass when combined with the applied leadwork. Our solution was to fabricate a sample window during the tender stage for approval by the architect, to make sure that all parties were happy with the solution and avoid the risk of the windows being rejected once on site.

Another challenge related to the project installation timescale. A large part of the window replacement needed to be completed during the school summer holiday, which required us to increase labour throughout the six-week break to make sure that all of the windows were fabricated ahead of time to deliver what we committed.

There was another unexpected challenge arising from the client uncovering asbestos during a phase of the project that had not been previously identified. This required us to alter our programme of works and complete phase 4 before completing phase 3, to give the contractor time to remove the asbestos safely without causing an installation delay.

Outcomes

To complete the project successfully within budget and timescale, our team had to work with a significant degree of creative flexibility. For example, we had a strict programme of window fabrication that match the order (phases) that the windows were to be replaced on site. This was to ensure that the building was never left vulnerable to intruders while unoccupied, and also to coincide the overall project programme.

The main phases were to be completed over the school summer holiday, with the final installation being finished by the end of December 2023. However, due to the change of sequence after the asbestos was discovered, we increased our presence on-site and were able to complete all of the window replacements by the end of September, three months ahead of schedule. This had a positive knock-on for other tradespeople, who were able to accelerate their involvement, and as a result, the whole project finished four months early.

The project manager from Bowmer and Kirkland said: “I wish that every window company was as proactive and efficient as Advanced Glass! I want to use you on our next school project.”

The customer and the school were delighted to complete early and provide access to the new and refurbished areas of the school ahead of the agreed completion date.

Find Out More

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team at Bowmer and Kirkland, as well as our contacts at Brentwood High School, for being a pleasure to work with throughout this project, and we look forward to future engagements. If you’d like to find out more about this project or discover how we can support you, please contact Advanced Grass today by clicking here.