Modular
building design build manufacture
Wernick Buildings - Building from a child’s perspective
When your service users are predominantly
children it seems only sensible that the building in which they
may spend much of their day should be designed with them in
mind. This was the focus of Brenda Birch’s comments about the
new Wernick modular building she manages in Walsall. The
Leighswood Children’s Centre has, among many other features
normally associated with a nursery, reduced ceiling heights,
level access between, and similar internal design features to
the adjacent primary school. These characteristics have been
incorporated into the new building said Brenda, “So that we are
creating a warm, welcoming venue that allows our children to
move comfortably from the Centre to the primary department of
the school. We also want their parents to feel confident and
happy coming into the centre to access advice, information and
support”.
Other features incorporated into the design include
environmental considerations such as a shallow angle
mono-pitched roof concealing three solar panels producing hot
water for the centre.
The centre can provide care for 48 children between three and
eleven years of age in ‘wrap-around’ provision between 8.00 am
and 6.00 pm through the week. During this time the children are
offered a healthy meal at breakfast and tea times. They bring
their own packed meals for lunchtime. The centre currently
supports 70 children at various times during any week from 40
local working families. The support to the local community
extends to offering courses in parenting skills, food
preparation, pre and anti-natal care and job centre advice.
These services are soon to be offered on an ‘outreach’ basis
through mobile support workers in the community who will be
based at the Children’s Centre.
Which key factors helped Carl Britton, the Children’s Centres &
Extended Schools’ Development Manager for Education Walsall, to
go for a design from Neath Abbey based modular building
specialists Wernick Buildings? “I have to create the best
possible environment for our service users,” stated Carl, “most
of who are of a very young age. The development of these
facilities is always required within very tight deadlines and I
have found that modular construction gives us this quality and
flexibility, as well as the opportunity to satisfy environmental
issues in terms of sustainability. Modular building has improved
dramatically in the last ten years”.
“As far as the Leighswood project was concerned”, continued
Carl, “modular build gave me the time and cost factors that I
required, as well as the flexibility to change the design of the
building’s interior even as the project was being prepared in
the factory. The fact that Wernick have a local office here in
Walsall also helped tremendously in this respect. The speed at
which the centre was erected was outstanding and presented the
minimum disruption to the adjacent primary school”.
Email:
jeff.bownds@wernick.co.uk