Modular Business Centre With Modular Meeting Rooms

Batley Multi Academy Trust (the Trust) is a family of 6 schools with over 600 members of staff and over 4000 young people. The schools are all located in the Batley area and all only a 5 minute drive from each other.

As the Trust grows into a more mature, thriving organisation and the number of schools increases, it was necessary to have a bespoke area for the Trust Central Team to work from, together with space for our Teacher Training Partnership. There was also the requirement for meeting and conferencing space and facilities for the wider organisation and its external partners.

The initial idea was to develop an internal space inside one of the Trust’s 6 existing schools, however, this would have limited the space available to the school, been very costly and not bespoke to our current needs. Consequently, we began looking at new builds as an alternative.

Initially we were not keen on modular solution, however after meeting with the MPH team and visiting one of their existing and most recent buildings, we were converted.

A 2-STAGE TENDER PROCESS: Stage one included full planning permission and release of conditions, including environmental biodiversity considerations and reports. MPH worked with the client from a very early stage to develop a viable design and delivery programme and meet project budgets.

The provision of a new Trust Academy building provides essential business, meeting and administration services for school staff and pupils. Moreover, it meets a defined need to provide a base for staff who currently visit multiple sites, resolving the inefficient movement of staff across multiple facilities. The Trust Development Centre will ensure that staff can always access school facilities without hiring other venues. The Trust Executive Team will also find a new centralised base in the proposed building.

SYMPATHETIC AESTHETICS: The accommodation consisted of offices, hot desks, conference and meeting rooms, a staffroom with kitchen and seating areas, plus toilet facilities.

The modular conference building is situated in a prominent location close to the primary school entrance. Therefore, external finishes were designed to be sympathetic to the surroundings and existing structures.

STAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN: Modular buildings possess unique energy-efficient properties and offer a sustainable alternative to traditional construction methods.

Modular construction scores highly when considering sustainability, especially in the case of healthcare and educational environments. Not only by combining lower embodied energy use and consumption but also by resulting in less disruption, faster completion, cleaner sites and reduced waste.