We’re delighted to announce that works have started at the site of Abbs Cross Academy, an arts college on Abbs Cross Lane in Hornchurch that became part of the Loxford School Trust in 2016.

The school approached us requiring a complete overhaul of the outside of an existing building. After submitting a successful tender, A.W. Hardy was instructed to replace the old uPVC cladding with Kingspan cladding; replace the current windows with much more thermally efficient modern-day equivalents; and replace the roof covering with insulated three-layer roof felt.

As you can see, the scaffolding is up, and the preliminary works are underway. The main works will take place over the summer holidays, when students and staff are enjoying their well-earned break. The revamp is expected to continue to autumn half term.

Using a side entrance across from the playground as our access point, we are consciously ensuring that our team causes as little disruption as possible.

The building was something of an unknown to us, so we needed to conduct a little research into its layout before passing this information on to the architect and engineer for their own records (Munday + Cramer Architectural and Building Surveyors Ltd and Simon Moss of Smart Engineering and Design Ltd respectively).

After completing this analysis, we discovered that the property is laid out in 2.4m bays, so it repeats itself structurally (with a few adaptations here and there). This means we should be able to replicate the same system across most of the premises for ease.

Keep an eye on our social media feed for progress updates.