On the 8th of November 2010 the electricity cupboard gained a reprieve! Our building firm, ROK, went into administration. Alan Randall, Site Manager, had the news at much the same time as we did and, after a meeting with his men, all work stopped. Whilst waiting in this strange limbo Alan had time to show me around the now quiet site.
All the materials that were being stored outside have now been moved inside for security.
This will be a "feature" window near to the main entrance.
Looking into what will be the kitchen area. On the left will be storage I think.
This will be the common room. The window spaces are all boarded up whilst we await a new builder to take over from ROK.
Part of the ground floor dining room area. You'll notice the outside access is boarded up here as well.
One of the corridors giving access to the student study-bedrooms. The "doors" with the wood across them are in fact the access panels for the shower pod feeds. The next picture shows this in detail.
This is all the "gubbins" behind a shower pod that makes it all work. The convenient access make for incredibly easy maintenance.
Looking left into the pod. The silver thing high on the wall is a shower head. The bar below is in fact the water control.
... and looking right into the pod. Sink... heated towel rail. It's remarkable what they've fitted into these things.
Right.... well.... as you can see we have a new builder. All work stopped here when ROK went into administration. ROK had been doing a great job here and it was a shame that we lost a couple of months work whilst it was all sorted out. Primus have taken on the contract and are working with speed to get the work completed and ready for next year. Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, will be opening the new building in late March.... so they have their work cut out to have the place presentable!
In case you are wondering.... Primus have kept Alan Randall on as their Site Manager... this is great as Alan has been great throughout the ROK period and inbetween securing the site.
Top floor windows are smaller than the first floor. The square section open. The windows below are larger... but the view isn't as nice. :-)
Boards are gone now and the big windows and doors fitted. This will be our common room.
The dining room area. I think these will be servery hatches... but don't quote me on that!
Looking into the common room.
Looking out from the common room onto the path running behind Bennetts.
This is the entrance to Matron's flat from the new building side. Looking down the corridor you can see a pair of white doors. These lead into the new Sick Bay in Bennetts and will eventually be connected to the new building.
Looking out from the living room of what will be our Matron's flat. On the posts in the background you can see the night lighting for the path that connects the two sides of the Boarding House at the moment.
We are having some snazzy lighting on the ground floor. This is just outside the Boarding Staff Office.
This is a more completed one. There will be a central light fitting with lighting coming in less directly from the edge.
One of the large ground floor rooms. This will be (I think) the computer suite. There's certainly a whole load of insulation!
On each floor there is a room designed for wheelchair access. The rooms are larger and do not have the standard "pod" bathrooms.
This is the bathroom for the room for any students with mobility problems. It will have rails (currently sitting on the toilet!) and is large enough for easy wheelchair access.
The corridor roof spaces are full of wiring, water pipes and emergency sprinkler systems.
The first floor staff flat has three bedrooms and looks out onto a balcony accessible by those doors.
"In front of you there is a dark stairway going upwards."
Looking out of the top floor student kitchen window toward Bennetts House. The top floor window you can see is my room and where most of the early construction pictures were taken from. Bottom right you can see the basketball posts on their sides. The students will be really happy when these are fitted with new backboards (the old ones have warped) and put back up on the new playing court.
Window looking out of one of the top floor student rooms. The windows are smaller than the first floor and the roof more intrusive but the room itself is longer and the views better.
The inside of the one bedroom staff flat. The floor rests on those batten on the floor. Each batten has a rubber layer under it to improve soundproofing.
View from the one bedroom flat on the top floor. That partly white building is Wykeham with Dormer behind it ocver the lane. Behind that is the lower school. The white "M" shape made by the roofs in the background... the one on the left is a Maths room whilst the one next to is is my "R.E." room (711).
Taking out the fuses... and cutting the power prior to working on the main power cable to the existing building.
This should now be only half true!
The electricity cable! We've been waiting to do this for a while now. It's being done in half term so that the students don't suffer the power out... and in case there are problems.
New cable on the left.... old cable on the right. Through this comes the entire power for Bennetts. As this is where I live I'd like it to work!
This is the bit of kit that will ensure that the link stays watertight. The plastic housing surrounds the cable joint and then epoxy resin is poured in. It will be completely sealed. I can tell you that it's working well... or I wouldn't be typing this now!
This is the back of the building. The scaffolding is down and the rendering completed on the two student kitchen areas on the left.
Yup.... another crane! A lorry came in, put down it's stabilising feet and hey presto! HUGE crane.
This crane has a man in a cab at the top. It was brought in to move all the roof ducting etc into place.
Window ledges are being added... tidying up the outside which is nearly finished.
FINALLY... the old electricity cupboard is gone!
New jackets and old.
Looking good! Hopefully we'll be ready for the grand opening later this month.
