Thomas Sinden were appointed to deliver the design and build of a new extension for Sarah Bonnell school in East London: one of the oldest girls’ schools in the UK.

The expansion delivers much needed additional space to satisfy increased demand for school places. The new extension houses a contemporary dining space on the ground floor with access to an outdoor covered area. The first floor houses the new music department, with classrooms, performance spaces, practice rooms, recording facilities, staff offices and storage.

For a long time it looked as though this scheme may not be able to progress because of budgetary constraints, however, we did a serious amount of Value Engineering which included refurbishing and reusing existing VelFac curtain walling and managed to get to site late April 2020. 

Access was always difficult as we needed to dovetail in with the schools kitchen and create a safe route through part of our site for the catering staff to allow serving of the school dinners. In addition the team took Coronavirus in their stride and managed to get a great Considerate Constructors score along the way.  

“We are extremely pleased with the way the project has been completed and managed throughout the 10 months of construction. The project took place during the pandemic and Thomas Sinden managed the project with very little delay to the completion date. Very early on, they were in communication with the Project Managers to highlight any supply chain concerns that may arise. Staffing was always managed onsite and construction carried on during the pandemic. Thomas Sinden were always happy for us to visit the site, during the project there were minor changes and Thomas Sinden were always happy to accommodate these and work with the school. Thank you for our amazing new facility, we look forward to working with you again.”

Zainab Nahaboo
Senior Leader Premises & Operations, Sarah Bonnell School