Pictured: KES students taking part in an engineering
workshop run by Shaylor
Students from King Edward's School Birmingham have been given an
insight into the role of contractors and engineers thanks to
Shaylor Construction and Nolan Associates.
Shaylor is building a £7.1m new Performing Arts Centre for
King Edward's School, Birmingham and sister school, King Edward VI
High School for Girls, on the Edgbaston campus alongside Nolan
Associates who are the principle designers involved in the
scheme.
A series of educational workshops are being provided for a group
of eight pupils at KES. The workshops involve advising the students
on general structural engineering principles and tasking them with
calculations for various sections of the build on site. The
students then follow the construction process through to see how
the calculations translate into physicality.
Darren Green, senior project manager at Shaylor, said: "This is
a fantastic project which enables us engage with the teachers and
pupils in a worthwhile activity. The boys enjoy learning and we are
also contributing to the curriculum.
Jim Lockley, associate director at Nolans said: "The Performing
Arts Centre is quite a complex project so is an ideal framework for
which to base the structural engineering workshops on. We also had
a couple of students with us over the summer undertaking work
experience which enables them to learn more about a career in
the construction industry."
The Performing Arts Centre will provide a concert hall to seat
an audience of 400 and a performance space to accommodate an
orchestra of 90. In addition, there is a separate drama studio that
will seat 125, and a wide variety of rooms for teaching and
rehearsal.
Work on site commenced in November 2010, with completion
scheduled for early 2012.