Meole Brace School - The Vanguard Building

PSG are pleased to announce the completion of the new classroom block at Meole Brace School.  Works finished just before the Christmas break and the building has successfully been in use from the start of the January term.

The project was commissioned by Shropshire Council’s Learning and Skills department in response to increasing demand for secondary school places in Shrewsbury.  PSG carried out initial feasibility work, proceeded to establish the design for the building and set out the high environmental standards.  The contract was tendered on a Design and Build basis and awarded to Wrexham based contractor Read Construction Ltd.  Post tender project development work was carried out by the contractors design team working alongside a PSG Project Management team.  PSG staff members involved in the project were:

  • Peter Allen, Project Lead Officer
  • Harvey Gould, Project Manager
  • Luke Blakeway, M&E Team leader
  • Lucy Fletcher, Quantity Surveyor
  • Scott Gerrard, Clerk of Works
  • Nathan Davies, Electrical Surveyor
  • Ian Pengilly, Mechanical Surveyor

Principal Contractor: Read Construction

Contractor’s Design Team

Architects:                               TACP Architects

Passivhaus Consultant:           HLM Architects

M&E Consultant:                     Davies Partnership

Structural Engineers:              JP Structural Design

 The Vanguard Building represents a key step forward in building design for us.  It has been designed to be ‘zero-carbon’ and is a demonstration of Shropshire Council's commitment to responding to the climate crisis.  The building is highly efficient and has been built to achieve the internationally respected Passivhaus standard, a first for a Shropshire education facility.

The process has been very challenging and the success of the project has relied upon a collaborative approach by the project team and the commitment of main contractor Read Construction Ltd.  The result is an extremely energy efficient building that provides an excellent teaching environment.  We see this as an example of the approach that will need to be taken for all building projects both large and small in the years ahead as we strive for a more sustainable future.