Bundle 3 PPP schools, Ireland

The challenge: consistent delivery across diverse environments

Each of the eight schools in the bundle featured its own bespoke design, to meet the client’s specific requirements and enhance students’ learning environments. The smallest school occupies just 4,400m², while the largest campus stretches to 13,962m² of floorspace.

The remit for all the new schools was to deliver attractive environments that staff and students could be proud of. But a large part of the challenge has also been to make sure those environments continue to evoke pride and to support modern approaches to learning and wellbeing as they evolve.

From general teaching spaces to specialist classrooms, from food preparation areas to offices and meeting rooms, from sporting facilities and extensive external landscaped areas, BAM is responsible for all the physical assets over the full 25-year lifespan of the facilities management contract. That demands a comprehensive and fully integrated service. 

Many of the new schools were built to serve rapidly developing areas. Thanks partly to their bright, modern and welcoming design, many soon reached their built capacity as they became popular choices for local families.

The BAM solution: comprehensive support across each the whole estate

BAM’s FM responsibilities began on the handover of each campus, with around 30 staff from the former schools transferring under TUPE regulations. So in practice, the BAM team is an integral part of each local school community: with all the loyalty and commitment that implies.

Their focus is on making sure that each building and its grounds is maintained in peak condition. That means delivering day-to-day services diligently, efficiently and discreetly. Keeping downtime and disruption to a minimum is essential.

BAM delivers 16 different services across the contract, from grounds and landscaping, telecoms, cleaning, planned and reactive maintenance, security and fire safety to housekeeping, caretaking and porterage.

Sustainability and keeping costs under control are also a major preoccupation: so BAM makes full use of the leading-edge integrated building management system to keep mechanical and electrical systems on track, as well as to manage energy across all the sites.

Carefully planned preventive maintenance is key, with upgrades and servicing scheduled for school holidays where possible.

It’s also vital to be responsive to broader evolving needs. For example, in 2020, BAM delivered a three-storey extension at Ardscoil na Mara second level school in Tramore, Co. Waterford. The new school – with its superb facilities – had become oversubscribed soon after opening, with many students choosing to stay local rather than travelling into Waterford for their secondary education as they might have done in the past.

Working closely with the board of management and other stakeholders, the BAM team successfully carried out the works in the challenging conditions of a live school site, delivering a 35% increase in capacity.
 

The results: a reliable response and continuity of services on site

While BAM has a full-time team led by a Facility Manager in each school, these local teams don’t work in isolation.

They have direct access to a centralized helpdesk, and a dedicated team of expert mobile technicians, lifecycle, asset management and health and safety specialists, as well as commercial experts. This approach makes sure that high-level expertise is available fast, as well as delivering economies of scale.

For example, in the key area of energy management, BAM has the resources to benchmark energy consumption for each campus and reviews the actual energy used each month: comparing any differences to achieve on-going energy savings.

Annual condition surveys – with more detailed reviews every five year – ensure a structured approach to forward maintenance planning and lifecycle projects.

Over the life of the contract so far, BAM has clearly demonstrated its ability to deliver consistent, high-quality services, and to respond to issues quickly and skilfully.

Overall, the Schools Bundle 3 programme has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Education Project of the Year at the Irish Construction Industry Awards in 2015 (for Scoil na Trionóide Naofa, Doon), the 2016 FM Project of the Year in Health & Education (FM Awards) and the Silver award for the Best Completed Project at the 2016 Private Partnership awards. The project also took the accolade for Best use of technology at the 2017 FM Awards and was recognised at the Property Industry Excellence Awards 2018.