First look inside the new Bolton School sixth form building

The Farnworth firm has been working at the Chorley New Road site since last summer building the £4.5 million Riley Centre, which is due to open this autumn.

The site has employed more than 60 Seddon staff and involved several other contractors.

The four-storey building will accommodate 400 students.

Peter Jackson, operations director for Seddon, said it has been a fascinating and challenging project.

He added: “We first started working with Bolton School in 2008, when we worked on their junior boys’ school. It was a lovely building and Bolton School has become a great customer. We then built the girls’ school building and the school built a great relationship with the site manager, Jimmy Foylan.

“When the sixth form project came about, the school wanted to work with Jimmy again. He works with the school to make sure the disruption is kept to a minimum and everything is kept on schedule. Again, this sixth form centre is a lovely building to be involved with.

“It’s a steel-framed building clad in stone which is dressed at the quarry and is a perfect curve rather than straight-edged. It’s absolutely stunning.

“The building is elipitical-shaped and linked to the existing school with granite paving outside. Inside there is some lovely joinery with hardwood fittings.”

Building work began on-site in July 2012 after a few months of planning, pricing, value-management and supply-chain work.

Mr Jackson said: “The building has been put together with materials which have been delivered through the original school building’s archway. It was almost like building through a letter box. It sits on piles that were driven into the ground and fitting the pile-driving rig through the archway was a close-call.

“We’ve had to think a lot about logistics and fitting the wagon deliveries, building work and noise around the school’s schedule. It’s been a fascinating project — and really nice to work on.”

Seddon won the apprentice development category of this year’s Bolton & Bury Business Awards and the Plodder Lane firm takes great pride in its training and development of young staff.

Mr Jackson said: “Last year was our 75th anniversary and we planned to take on 75 apprentices. In the end, we actually recruited more than 80 and apprentices are a very important part of the business.

“A lot of the managers at Seddon began their careers as apprentices. Keith Waddington is now our commercial director. The Seddon family’s ethos is all about being builders. Christopher Seddon was a bricklayer and Jonathan went through all the trades.”

Seddon’s other educational building projects have included primary schools for Salford Council and a batch of schools in Barrow-in-Furness last year.

It is currently building some primary schools in Staffordshire.

In Bolton, Seddon is also adding an extra floor to Bolton Sixth Form College’s town centre campus.

The £ 1.6 million vertical extension will create a refectory, server and classrooms. It is due to be completed by Christmas.

Mr Jackson said: “That building was originally designed to accommodate an extra floor and the work will take between 30 and 40 weeks.”

David Dunn, head of estates at Bolton School, said: “We chose Seddons for the construction of the new Riley Sixth Form Centre because, having worked with them before on a number of projects, including the building of new infant and junior girls’ schools, we had a good working relationship with their team. They delivered the projects on time and on budget.

“We have been really pleased with Seddon’s past work and are delighted with how the new centre looks. It is a stunning combination of glass and sandstone, and it sits proudly in our centre quadrangle completing the original master plan by Lord Leverhulme.

“Over the next few weeks we will be busy finalising the internal fittings so the Riley Centre is ready in September when the students return.”

Other North West firms with key roles in BOlton School’s new sixth form building included architects Cassidy & Ashton, structural engineering firm Slater & Watson, quantity surveyors Thornber & Walker, and mechanical and electrical firm Beech Jackson.

Other contractors included Engineering Services Co Ltd, Blackwire Ground workers, Central Wall & Floor Tiling, JC Wilkins for screeding, Peel Fencing, Sub Soil Surveys for additional soil testing, Taylor Brothers tree surgeons, Brooklyn Landscapes, JP Kitchens, Style Partitions and A1 Shutters, which has supplied external steel doors and kitchen shutters.