BAM has completed a new sixth form facility at President Kennedy School in Coventry

The £5 million ‘Post 16 Centre’ scheme was delivered on behalf of Coventry City Council (CCC) and multi academy trust, The Futures Trust, and provides capacity for an additional 150 educational places at the school. 

Designed by Lucas Architects, the standalone two-storey sixth form block is comprised of seven classrooms, three laboratories, a first-floor atrium, servery and learning resources.

The facility has been built within the existing school campus and is constructed in a steel frame with composite deck to the first floor, ground bearing floor slab and pad foundations. The building envelope is formed from a lightweight cold-rolled steel frame system, with a metal deck supported on purlins at roof level, incorporating feature roof lights and photo-voltaic (PV) panels.

Cllr Dr Kindy Sandhu, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: ‘I’m delighted to see work on this excellent project come to its completion and I’m sure the staff and sixth form students at President Kennedy are very excited to enjoy this new facility. 

‘The Post-16 building will no doubt create a much-improved and spacious environment to learn in. I want to thank all of those involved for working so well together to fulfil this important new development and make a wonderful new facility for the school community.’

‘We are delighted to have completed this new facility that provides President Kennedy School with much needed additional capacity for sixth form students. This project adds to our portfolio of successful education schemes and cements BAM’s reputation as a leading provider of education projects in the Midlands.

‘This project also provided an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to delivering wider social value to the communities in which we work. From training and employment opportunities, through to investment in the local supply chain and community engagement, delivering wider social value was a key priority and the team can be very proud of the contribution that it has made.’

Dave Ellis

Regional Director – Midlands, BAM

Neil Clayton, Headteacher of President Kennedy School, commented: ‘We are delighted with the new Post 16 building at President Kennedy School. This purpose-built space has been delivered to a fantastic specification and has provided high quality learning spaces for our students and staff. Working with BAM was easy as their professionalism and communication was excellent.’

Over £1 million of orders were placed with local supply chain businesses and local suppliers of goods and services, and employment opportunities were created for ten people living within the local region, contributing over 99 weeks of employment over the course of the project. 

With Covid-related restrictions preventing visits to local schools and colleges, the site team devoted over 50 hours of staff support to virtual STEM sessions for 46 students across three local schools.

Voluntary support was provided to four Warwickshire based community and social enterprise organisations. This included 132 volunteering hours with Forest of Hearts, a charitable organisation that promotes accessible and sustainable agroforestry to create ‘gardens for good’.

BAM volunteers worked with Forest of Hearts and other local businesses to create living walls at Stratford Sports Club and two timber gazebos at Stratford Upon Avon Hospital. Materials totalling £1,600 were also pledged to support to future Forest of Hearts projects in the local community.

Three other Midlands based schools recently constructed by BAM include Avanti Fields School and Castle Mead Academy in Leicester and Derby Cathedral School - three schemes with a combined value of around £65 million, awarded by the Department for Education under its national education framework. Other Midlands-based education projects delivered by BAM include Daventry Hill School and Harington School in Oakham.