A senior figure at Wates has added his voice to the growing number of critics who say design must be given more time in the early stages of PFI school projects.

John Eynon, principal design manager at Wates, says it is no surprise that the vast majority of PFI schools are not impressing in the design stakes. “To be really effective design needs time, it needs thought. At the moment, the time constraints are so tight that it’s no surprise the design quality is not quite where it should be.”

He continues: “The construction phase runs better when you give teams more time before they go on site. The more intellectual effort we can put into schemes in the design and procurement stages, the higher the quality of the end product.”

The criticism comes as one of the new wave of Academies picked up a coveted award last month. The City of London Academy in Bermondsey won the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award.

Commenting on the design of the comprehensive school, built by Wilmott Dixon to Studio E designs, CABE said: “The key difference appears to be not just cost but the extra time for design and consultation in the early stages of the project.”

Time for change?

What will happen to the fledgling Building Schools for the Future programme to rebuild and refurbish all England’s secondary schools?

Questions are being asked about the effectiveness of the initial bid process, in which typically three consortia battle it out for a clutch of PFI schools before the winner forms a partnership with the local authority and government body Partnerships for Schools (PfS). This is now seen as wasteful because two of the three designs will not be used. The lack of time which competing consortia and therefore designers get with the schools and local authorities when providing the bid is also being criticised.

Change is afoot, however. In November, Tim Byles, chief executive of Norfolk County Council, will take over the reins at PfS. This coincides with the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a six-month review of Building Schools for the Future. Industry insiders will be hoping for some robust results and that Byles will be able to take some strong political decisions.

See features on Building Schools for the Future and design managers

Source

Construction Manager