CASE STUDY: CRANBORNE PRIMARY SCHOOL, HeRTFORDSHIRE
Cranborne Primary School, in Hertfordshire, were in need of a new artificial sports facility to replace an area of their existing natural turf pitch which had ongoing issues with drainage that meant it couldn’t be used after bad weather. They were looking for a multi-use facility that could be used all year round to deliver a wide range of curricular activities but also with the opportunity to generate an income via community lettings at evenings and weekends.
Background
Following an introduction from mutual partners UniLink Finance, Cranborne Primary School and Notts Sport began developing a feasibility report into a new synthetic turf pitch for the school.
Following a design consultancy period, during which various surface and facility designs were considered, Cranborne’s Project Team decided to take forward a Gen2 multi-use games area (MUGA) design bespoke for their requirements and to meet the needs of the wider community.
ShockWave EcoBase – The Sustainable Design Solution
The Gen2 Hockey Turf MUGA was designed with a 100% recyclable ShockWave Platinum system which reduces the base construction requirements to 150mm and eliminates the need for separate macadam and shockpad layers entirely whilst offering over 2.2m Critical Fall Height to ensure player safety. A Gen2 compliant hockey, tennis and netball compliant surface, Domo Hockey Xtreme MDC, was chosen that is also suitable for football training and coaching along with general bat and ball games and aerobic activities.
Using the innovative ShockWave EcoBase design was critical to the project feasibility because by removing a macadam and shockpad layer, along with 150mm of stone from a typical MUGA construction, the school was able to make significant capital savings to make the scheme sustainable both financially and environmentally in the short medium and long term.
Tendering & Construction
Following a full tender & interview selection process, undertaken by Notts Sport in partnership with the School, FIH Certified Field Builders Hunts Contractors were selected by the school to complete the facility over a 9-week period, which was achieved even with poor weather conditions during the installation and still completed on budget.
User & Player Feedback
The Headteacher of Cranborne Primary School, Claire Keilty said, “Everything ran incredibly smoothly, the time scales were met to the point where we were able to open the facility for use by the children at the beginning of September, which was fantastic – it means that our children can use the facility all year around. Previously our field was not fit for purpose but now the children can have PE lessons, we can have competitions, we can invite other schools over for tournaments, and we have a full range of clubs that use the facility. It truly is an all-weather, all-purpose pitch for us to use, which is a fantastic addition to our school.”
Sam Ward and James Albery, England and Great Britain hockey players, came over to the Potters Bar School for a hockey session with the children and officially opened the sports facility in November.
James Albery said “Unfortunately there are these barriers to get into hockey and surfaces are definitely one of those, to have something like this at the school is brilliant! We just had the kids outside for half an hour now and you can tell that they absolutely love it, and for them to be able to develop their skills on a surface like this is absolutely fantastic.”