Inscape Interiors – the Lancashire-based manufacturer and installer of commercial washrooms and bespoke joinery – has won a new school fit-out project with Wates Construction.
The Chorley-based firm will start work this month on the washrooms fit-out for the new Star Leadership Academy in Salford.
The new school is part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) £3bn Modern Methods of Construction framework. Inscape’s package includes the manufacture and installation of all the toilet, changing and shower cubicles, as well as duct panelling systems and vanity units.
It will be the sixth project that Inscape has supported Wates on under the framework. It is currently live on three other schools – Littleborough Primary School in Oldham, Whitworth Community High in Rochdale and Lytham St Annes High School in Fylde – while it recently finished work on the washrooms package for the new 72,300 sq ft Edgar Wood Academy in Middleton.
Gary Wynne, managing director of Inscape Interiors, said: “It’s been an absolute privilege working on these prestigious new-build school projects, knowing the work we are doing is part of something that will make a real difference to young people, as well as their teachers and parents.
“We’re thrilled to have secured a sixth contract with Wates under this framework and can’t wait to see all the finished projects. All of these school facilities will provide world class teaching spaces to be used by people in our local communities for generations to come.”
Wates was appointed to the DfE’s £3bn Modern Methods of Construction Framework in January 2020. It is part of a wider government move towards adopting innovative offsite construction methods to deliver much-needed new schools across the country.
The Star Salford Academy project that Inscape will work on with Wates is part of the ongoing DfE’s Free School Programme and will be home to 750 pupils within a 62,000 sq ft two-storey building. Based in Little Hulton, the six-acre site has been vacant since Hulton High School was demolished in 2009.
In addition to teaching spaces, there will also be a hard-court multi-use games area, all-weather pitch, and sports hall facility. Wates is aiming to complete construction in time for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.
The multi-million-pound Edgar Wood Academy, located on Rochdale Road, Middleton, completed in October 2022. The school has the capacity to hold 900 pupils aged between 11 and 16 years old. It features almost 60 classrooms over three floors, as well as a sports hall, sports pitches, and soft and hard play areas.
