Schools and universities

The education spaces of the future need to be truly inclusive, accessible, sustainable, safe and straightforward to maintain. They also need to demonstrate real value for money throughout their life cycle.

That’s as true for local schools and colleges, as it is for our world-class universities across the UK and Ireland.

Education – at its best – helps young people reach their potential. But as a society, we face the on-going challenge of creating and maintaining environments that not only support learning and encourage a culture of exploration and innovation, but also nurture student wellbeing and contribute to community life. Creating a lasting legacy for the next generation. 

Achieving this relies on collaboration and a deep understanding of each community’s needs. BAM builds long-term partnerships with clients to make this possible. Our relationships are based on shared ambitions and a deep commitment to continuous improvement.

Much of the schools’ estate is ageing and no longer fit for purpose. While universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland are having to reimagine the shape of further and higher education.

BAM’s approach recognises that learning environments have their own unique challenges:

• It all starts with design. Every space needs to perform from day one. And it has to be adaptable for the decades to come. BAM’s data-led digital design systems and expertise in sustainable design transform ideas into practical reality
• Modern approaches and construction methods – including digital construction techniques and modular, off-site construction – bring precision to every project. They’re the key to delivering smart, efficient environments that are low carbon, affordable and straightforward to maintain, and ready to evolve as educational needs change
• BAM can also deliver deep expertise in the essential mechanical and electrical services that bring every education building to life, from heating and lighting to ventilation, air-conditioning and specialist systems such as audio-visual or security installations
• In the university sector, cutting-edge research demands cutting-edge facilities: whether it’s state-of-the-art labs, clean rooms and equipment suites or interactive spaces for emerging technologies. Our expertise delivers world-class laboratories and research spaces that meet the most demanding specifications
• Many of our projects use energy efficient technologies and features like flexible floor plates and spaces, which can be adapted to meet the evolving needs of students and staff and changes in the teaching methods and the curriculum.
• We’ve built, refurbished and extended many schools, colleges and university buildings in the past decades. So we understand the unique challenges of working in live environments, in close proximity to children and young people
• And through our facilities management services, we provide all the support and maintenance activities needed to operate smoothly, responsively and cost-effectively throughout the building lifecycle

From frameworks to specialist provision

In primary and secondary education, our work spans the full range of schemes: from small, highly specialised schools that support a few dozen students with complex educational needs to 1,700 place academies and higher-education colleges.

Our team builds long-term partnerships with strategic frameworks – including with the Department for Education (DfE) in the UK and Department of Education and Youth in Ireland – as well as directly with local authorities and end-user clients.

We partner with a specialist whole-life consultant to provide consistent operational outputs on each of our projects under the DfE framework: so we can demonstrate measurable improvements in the client’s funding parameters.

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