Baxall’s learning curve on Islamic faith school

Baxall’s Iqra VA Primary School project in Clapham, south London, consisted of demolishing existing school buildings and constructing a new steel-frame school with a brick and cladding facade. With a 68-week programme and a contract value of £8.3m, it kept us busy.

Iqra Primary School began as a charity in a townhouse in Brixton, with several moves before it arrived at its bespoke school building. The school is Baxall’s third net zero in operation school and the first project on the new Department for Education (DfE) framework.

The project was also an education in itself as the team and I learned about Islamic culture. It was the team’s first installation of an ablution room, for example. But one thing that stood out for me was the dual signage: the Arabic lettering underneath the English was not a word mirroring the above, but an inspirational, enlightening phrase.

It’s the unique characteristics like this that have made this project an exceptional one, along with early engagement with the whole project team. By liaising with the DfE, our client, the school and the whole supply chain, we have been able to collaboratively create a project that we can all be proud of, and that will serve the needs of the local community for a long time to come. 

Of course, it hasn’t been without its challenges. Onerous planning conditions certainly played their part, with the site’s location probably the most challenging of all.

This was an island site, surrounded by roads and residential properties, meaning meticulous logistical planning was crucial. The tight site not only caused challenges for delivery timings, but also storage issues, where tree root protection limited the storage even further.

We kept the residents well informed and it’s fantastic to hear that the residents were all very complimentary about the site and its conscious planning.

During construction, contaminants were discovered, along with structural challenges to boundary walls that had to be removed and replaced with fencing.

Also February 2024 was the fourth wettest on record since 1871. With a rainfall total of 130mm, it proved extremely testing – especially as we were on task for the intumescent spraying of the steel frame.

The final hurdle was the limited power supply, which required solutions to be devised for the coordination of commissioning while maintaining progress on site.

We were keen to keep the children and staff involved as much as possible and created several events for them to attend, from steel signing to the topping-out ceremony.

We were also regular speakers at the school’s assembly, demonstrating the Oculo 360 camera scans to show the children the project’s progress. We hosted many site visits, attended not only by pupils, but by school governors, senior DfE members, the school’s senior leadership team and education minister Stephen Morgan.

Echoing its slogan ‘Buildings Built on Teamwork’, Baxall worked with the school throughout, involving it in the design process, enabling it to choose its own colours and have an input into the finished building.

Baxall’s collaborative culture was prevalent throughout. We worked with a ‘whole team’ approach which comprised the DfE, the school, its supply chain and the local residents.

It is thanks to this that we were able to overcome the challenges – sometimes even before they had arisen – and create solutions. And that we were able to deliver a successful handover that exceeded the DfE’s expectations, going above and beyond for soft landings. 

This was a project with many opportunities to learn, and I had to overcome new challenges, step out of my comfort zone and apply new leadership skills. All of this led to my promotion to contracts manager during this project.

It was a very complex project and I had to deal with many more people than I typically would – from DfE members to multiple stakeholders, all specialists in their own field.

Not to mention the inspection and testing that was required. This was a heavily evidence-based project, requiring continuous proof of installation across all aspects along the DfE’s complex governance process – listing all deliverables through RIBA stages 0-6, from feasibility to end of defects.

This all-encompassing process begins with the DfE and is then passed to its technical advisers, which complete their submissions. Following project award, this document is handed to the construction contractor which will, with its consultants and subcontractors, use this tracker to manage the deliverables for the next stages of the project.

This was a mammoth task and a new learning curve for the whole Baxall team, paired with a very large and intricate O&M at handover.

The lessons learned have been carried forward to future projects to maximise efficiencies, and I look forward to another great team effort on the next DfE project to continue developing my career and leadership skillset.