Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has been awarded an £11 million contract to build a new arts and sports facility at a well known and successful girls' school in west London.

The project at Notting Hill & Ealing High School (NHEHS), involves construction of a five-storey extension, including three storeys in a basement below ground level.

The new facility will include a sports hall, flexible performance space, drama studio and dance studio.

Enabling works get under way this month. Interserve will demolish an existing gymnasium and assembly hall, followed by piling works and excavations ahead of the construction of the basement.

Work on the superstructure will begin in September with the erection of a Metsec steel frame. The building will be clad with full-storey-height planar glazing, brickwork and copper cladding for the second floor dance studio.


A terraced courtyard will be created alongside the new extension, which will connect to the existing school building via a first-floor link bridge.

Sustainability features include a green sedum roof and attenuation chambers in the courtyard. The BREEAM target for the project is 'Very Good'.

The new NHEHS arts and sports facility is scheduled to be completed in November 2012.

John O'Neill, Area Manager for Interserve, said: "Interserve will create a modern, 21st century learning environment, while allowing the existing school to operate as normal. During the construction phase, we are planning curriculum activities with NHEHS students, such as art and design competitions, and creation of a project blog.

"Interserve has a strong track record in the education sector and we will work closely with NHEHS to deliver a facility that more than matches their aspirations."

Interserve has delivered over £400 million-worth of schools projects, UK-wide, over the past two years and recently started work on Langley Hall Primary Academy in nearby Slough, one of the first schemes under the government's 'free schools' initiative.

(CD/GK)