HABERDASHERS' ASKE'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, HERTFORDSHIRE - Darke & Taylor

Haberdashers‘ Aske’s School for Girls, Hertfordshire
Darke & Taylor proudly contributed to the transformative project at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, focusing on the new Science Hub.
This ambitious five-storey rebuild of an existing block was designed to create a dedicated space for scientific education, enabling more flexible teaching methods and highlighting the importance of science in the curriculum.

Project challenges

NEW PLANTROOM IN A NEW LOCATION

One of the significant challenges of the project was that the existing plant room was located within the footprint of the new build.

Solution: Darke & Taylor had to carefully identify and resolve the issues associated with relocating the plant room. The new plantroom was designed and constructed in the new plant room in the basement of the new STEM building, ensuring it met all operational requirements. During this transition, temporary power solutions were implemented to maintain the school’s full functionality, ensuring there was no disruption to its daily activities.

FUTUREPROOFING

Anticipating future works that would be fed from the new plant room and through the building we were currently working on presented another challenge.

Solution: To minimise future disruption, we proactively installed cabling and strategically left it protected in key locations. This forward-thinking approach ensured that future projects can easily utilise the pre-installed infrastructure, significantly reducing potential disruptions to the newly completed building.

EXPOSED SERVICES

Another project challenge was the requirement for exposed services, rather than having them hidden behind ceilings.

Solution: Darke & Taylor were able to transform the services into a showcase rather than concealing them, this necessitated meticulous coordination to ensure a perfect finish that was both aesthetically pleasing and functional, allowing the services to become a standout feature of the building.

EXTERNAL SCIENCE LAB

The project also featured an external science lab, presenting a unique challenge in routing services externally to the lab without compromising the roof membrane.

Solution: Detailed planning and co-ordination went into the designs to create routes to run the services from the main site to the external lab, ensuring they were protected from potential damage during construction and remained hidden without affecting the labs structural integrity. This careful planning preserved the buildings aesthetics and functionality while safeguarding critical services.

Gallery

“Darke & Taylor were able to transform the services into a showcase rather than concealing them… a perfect finish that was both aesthetically pleasing and functional, allowing the services to become a standout feature of the building.”

Technical overview

The Haberdasher’s Aske’s School for Girls Science Hun project encompassed a comprehensive suite of electrical services to support the new five-storey facility. Our scope of work included a complete overhaul and enhancement of the existing mains infrastructure, a small power system tailored to the specific needs of the science labs and classrooms, advanced lighting systems that incorporated energy-efficient LED fixtures, flexible lighting controls and optimised illumination for both general and task-specific areas, integrating a state of the art fire alarm system, ensuring comprehensive coverage and rapid detection, security systems infrastructure to ensure a safe and secure environment and a modern data/telecoms network providing high-speed internet connectivity.