Bingham Primary School

Our Approach

Bingham Primary School becomes the latest academy in the Community Inclusive Trust (CIT). Designed and project managed by Arc Partnership - a joint venture between Nottinghamshire County Council and SCAPE - the one-storey 1,405 sq.m school will accommodate up to 210 primary and 26 nursery children. However, with a total 1,050 houses scheduled to be built in the Romans’ Quarter in the coming years, the school has been designed to allow for future expansion if required, taking the total number of pupils up to 315. Current features include seven classrooms, a multi-use games area, playground and a hall which doubles up as a dining and indoor sports hall.

As part of Morgan Sindall Construction’s Intelligent Solutions approach, the school benefitted from a number of digital and platform design capabilities, as well as modern construction methods and innovative carbon reduction tools.

This included supporting the client’s aspiration for a highly efficient operational building. The school was therefore fitted with air source heat pumps, LED lighting and electrically operated roof lights. A specialist air tightness company was also instructed to work with the project architect technician to ensure the building achieved the highest air permeability scores.

Morgan Sindall Construction also worked with its suppliers and subcontractors to reduce the carbon footprint of the build as part of its ‘10 Tonne Carbon Challenge’ initiative. In total, the site was able to save 39.48 tonnes of carbon during the initiative. It also diverted 99.7% of site materials from waste throughout the project as part of its efforts to reach its net zero goals.

Finally, the use of digital construction tools, such as BIM Level 2, were utilised during the design and delivery stages to provide clash detection benefits, greater programme certainty, and the ability for all stakeholders to visualise the project as a whole.

Enhancing Communities

In total, the project team generated a social value spend of £2.3m through various activities. These included more than 100 hours of voluntary work, donations totalling £7,150 to the local sport clubs, and the provision and installation of perimeter fencing at the town’s local music event, B-Fest. The project team also invited undergraduates for Nottingham Trent University to visit the site as part of the company’s longstanding involvement with STEER Support & Mentoring. As part of the mentor programme, students are matched with industry professionals to support their studies and prepare them for the world of work.

A local labour spend of 73 per cent was achieved within a 40-mile radius of the project – with approximately 50 per cent actually spent within 20 miles. It also appointed seven local microbusinesses and a Social Enterprise on the project, to ensure the local area and businesses directly benefitted from the build. Five apprentices cut their teeth on the project, gaining invaluable experience over a combined 26-week period.

At the official handover event - attended by local Double Olympic gymnast, Becky Downie - the children planted a time capsule full of personal items in the grounds. The school plans to reopen the capsule in six years’ time, just before the now reception age children graduate to their secondary schools. Morgan Sindall Construction also gifted the school with a book vending machine at the opening to assist with the pupils learning.

Richard Fielding, Area Director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “It’s always a privilege to work on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council to deliver schools which will ease pressure on pupil places whilst simultaneously providing new teaching spaces that will contribute towards reducing our environmental impact. Despite a couple of delays, we were able to navigate these challenges and deliver the school on time and on budget thanks to a collaborative approach with our supply chain, Arc Partnership, SCAPE and the client. I’m also extremely proud of our social value contributions which were achieved whilst the team worked tirelessly to create a wonderful learning environment for children and future generations of the town to benefit from.

Councillor Tracey Taylor, Cabinet Member for children and young people at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “I was delighted to join pupils, staff and partners at the opening of this wonderful new primary school in Bingham. I enjoyed helping the reception class pupils put a time capsule together and see their faces light up when Double Olympian Becky Downie came into the assembly hall with her medals. Bingham Primary School is the latest to join the new schools estate in Nottinghamshire, one which I’m proud to say sees 9 out of 10 schools across the county rated good or outstanding. A good education gives children and young people a solid start in life which leads to a whole range of options later in life.

Aaron Beattie, head of major projects at Arc Partnership, said: “It has been an honour to work as part of such a supportive, collaborative team to design and deliver the Bingham Primary School. To deliver this project on time and budget with colleagues from Nottinghamshire County Council, CIT and Morgan Sindall Construction has been a really positive experience and it’s a pleasure to know the children of Bingham are benefiting already from this truly inspirational learning environment.”