Morgan Sindall breaks ground at Bushey’s new net zero carbon in operation school

Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated the start of a key building project to create a two-storey, state-of-the-art primary school and nursery.

The project will see the tier one contractor’s Northern Home Counties business, alongside the Department for Education (DfE), transform Little Reddings Primary School in Bushey by demolishing two existing buildings and creating a state-of-the-art educational facility for the local community.  

Morgan Sindall, the DfE, and the Bushey St James Trust held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the project reaching this important milestone. Pupils from the school attended the occasion and were joined by Little Reddings Primary School's headteacher, Rebecca Tregear, the chair of the Bushey St James Trust, Sam Russell, and Richard Taylor from the DfE, alongside governors and trustees.  

During the event, the children took turns to sit in an excavator before a Q&A session on a viewing platform where they could see the progress so far on site. The children will return to the site before the end of the year to bury a time capsule. 

Completed plans will see the development of a two-storey, two form entry primary school and nursery with 15 new classrooms. The project will also include a multi-use games area (MUGA) and the re-providing of a playing field, for the benefit of the wider community as well as Little Reddings Primary School.  

Emma Curtis, area director at Morgan Sindall Construction in the Northern Home Counties, said: "It was an exciting moment to celebrate the groundbreaking at Little Reddings Primary School, as this development will really raise the bar for primary schools in the region and nationwide. 

“Not only will Bushey’s young students benefit from an enviable learning environment with state-of-the-art facilities, but also by achieving net zero carbon in operation this facility will secure the school’s long-term future for generations to come. 

“The Morgan Sindall team is thrilled to be working alongside the Department for Education, as we set out on this landmark project to deliver a new standard for carbon reduction in the construction of our schools.” 

As part of Morgan Sindall’s Intelligent Solutions approach, the project team will be using innovative sustainable technologies and methods to achieve a net zero carbon in operation school. This will include installing ground source heat pumps and a Streif closed panel structural timber building system. This offsite-manufactured composite timber frame will not only reduce the building’s carbon output, but also secure the long-term sustainable future of the school thanks to its improved energy efficiency standards.  

In addition, the Morgan Sindall team will deploy its proprietary carbon assessment tool CarboniCa throughout all construction stages, including RIBA stages four to six. CarboniCa is an innovative carbon calculation tool that allows project teams to work with customers to estimate, manage and reduce carbon emissions through the design, construction and life cycle of a building. 

As the initial stage of enabling work will be take place alongside a live school environment, the project team will schedule and manage the construction activity to ensure minimal disruption to the site's daily teaching and operations. 

This appointment is the first for Morgan Sindall under the new DfE School Rebuilding Programme framework. Little Reddings Primary School is one of 11 schools in Hertfordshire selected to receive rebuilding programme funding from the Government.