About the Project

Construction of 630-place primary school, completed in 86 weeks.

Passion, dedication and hard work were the defining themes of Martin Standley’s school replacement project, which added 200 places, a 50-place nursery and a purpose-built base for young children with autism spectrum condition.

Martin overcame the initial problem of access to the site, which lay within a housing estate under construction whose roads were owned by the developer. Unable at first to access the site from the road at all, he resequenced the works for the most effective use of what was eventually a single access point.

Working to a tight programme, he developed a solution to get the roof watertight as early as possible, running scaffold for the construction of the upper floor gables through it. This kept the ground and first floor watertight while Martin drove progress on the external blockwork. And with the design at commercial close not detailed enough for construction, he managed it as the site strip, sub-base formation and foundation works progressed.

He drove the works impeccably. When it emerged that the ground floor screed had been poured without the damp-proof membrane installed, he swallowed the unpalatable pill of taking out 19 skips’ worth of screed – and within a week had the membrane in place and the screed replaced. Having made good headway during his detailed planning and programming, he was still able to meet the completion date.