St Martin’s School
St Martin’s is a non-selective, inclusive one form entry Parish school, with a 30 place nursery.
The objectives
The school had a new building constructed which opened in 2015, and LiDR was selected to manufacture items of furniture for this project.
The process
We supplied media walls of varying sizes and specifications throughout the school. Fitted kitchens were also installed in each classroom, as well as in other areas throughout the building. In addition, LiDR supplied lockers, bag stores and office furniture.
Media walls
The media walls ranged from 3.2m to 5.6m long, depending on the space available in, and the requirements of, the classrooms.
They were designed to house plasma screens with desktop power and data in the teacher desks for the staff laptops.
We worked in collaboration with the contractor to ensure all services were correctly sited so the installation went as smoothly as possible.
It was important to the school that pupils could self resource during the lesson, which meant that a standard hinged door wasn’t suitable. Instead we installed doors which open and slide back into the unit so the trays are easily accessible without the doors being in the way.
Office furniture
In the school office we installed a storage wall which replicated the look of the media wall but was adapted to meet the storage requirements of a busy office.
Low level lockable filing drawers were included, along with pigeon holes, adjustable shelving, a pull out work surface and display cabinet. The doors to the shelving sections can open and slide back into the unit as they did in the media walls, to enable easy access to all files.
Kitchens
Most classrooms featured a sink area, and those for the younger children required a low level sink that pupils could access easily. We worked closely with the contractor and M&E contractor to provide positions for pipework, making installation easier.
In addition to the classroom sink areas, kitchens were also installed in staff areas throughout the building.
In total, over 250 perimeter desk spaces were created as part of the project.
Atrium desks: The Atrium is one of the outstanding features of the building. At each level, we installed bespoke Atrium desks along the walls, creating a stunning visual effect. The desks integrated the same architectural feature as the perimeter desks to maintain the theme, and all included power and lighting. The spaces are ideal for both private and collaborative study and are one of the most eye-catching elements of the project.
The style was replicated in other areas to maintain the theme throughout.
Seating
Bucket seats: One of the visions for the refurbishment was to open up areas of the building for collaborative study, and these perimeter bucket seats that we designed and manufactured offer a more informal setting in which to do this. The bespoke upholstery used the same fabric specified elsewhere in the building.
The result
The new school building was fully furnished with a range of bespoke items that enabled it to continually meet the needs of the children and staff now and also for the longer term.
Project gallery
What St Martin’s School says…
“We are delighted with our Media Walls from LiDR. They are an excellent solution for both teaching and storage and all classrooms in the school have been fitted with one. There is a high quality finish with the product and the installation team were excellent.
The staff and children love using the media walls. Teachers especially like the lockable storage features and the sliding whiteboard doors which allow them to use technology and written display together.”