Following two visits to the Church of Wales School site at Newbridge-on-Wye, the Considerate Constructors monitor assessed Yorkon’s operations in areas such as environment, site cleanliness, safety, responsibility, respect and accountability. 

Yorkon was awarded a certificate of Performance Beyond Compliance with a final score of 86%,exceeding UK industry averages of 77%.

The Yorkon site team was commended for its excellent level of engagement with the school, the high standard of presentation of the site, and the decision to carry out installation of power cabling during school holidays to minimise disruption to teaching. 

Other initiatives included:
•organising a painting competition for pupils to mark the arrival of the building on site
•segregation of waste for recycling
•regular communications with the school’s head teacher
•a monthly prize for site operatives to promote safety.

David Johnson, director and general manager of Yorkon, said, “This is a major achievement for the Yorkon project team and we are delighted it has been recognised in this way.  Off-site construction minimises disruption on site, and is much safer than traditional building methods, but what the team has achieved at Newbridge-on-Wye goes far beyond that in terms of consideration for the school and the local community.”

The £1.7m contract awarded to Yorkon was for the off-site construction of a new primary school for Powys County Council, comprising 18 steel-framed modules which were craned into position in just three days.   

The scheme replaces a sub-standard 1960s school building with new facilities which include four classrooms, administrative offices and a new community crèche.  

The building has been designed to minimise any impact on the environment and is expected to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating with a number sustainable features such as a biomass boiler, passive ventilation, solar panels and rainwater harvesting.