Sapa Bideford College Case Study

The new double glazed aluminium products played a major part in this award winning sustainability project.

Fabricator/Installer: Hazlemere Commercial

Main Contractor: Morgan Sindall

Architect: NPS Group

£44m of investment was used to transform the College with seven brand new teaching blocks being built by Morgan Sindall are now serving the surrounding area, and will do for many years to come. 

Main contractor Morgan Sindall and architect NPS South West, working for Devon County Council, liaised closely with Sapa’s Project Consultant Dean Sherwood and Sapa’s technical teams to develop a specification for the aluminium fenestration, manufactured and installed by Sapa’s specialist contractor Hazlemere Commercial, who fabricated the Sapa products at their 38,000 square foot factory in High Wycombe in Bucks.

Bideford Community College aims to be carbon-neutral by using biomass boilers burning woodchip, incorporating solar and wind generating technology and grounds that encompass parkland and wildlife promotion. 

In 2008 Bideford College was awarded the accolade of Most Sustainable School, part of the inaugural Excellence in BSF awards run by the Partnerships for Schools organisation and designed to recognise excellence within the BSF programme.

Projects from nineteen local authorities throughout England were shortlisted. The college has also won a “Green Apple Award” for environmental best practice. In 2011, NPS South West were given an RIBA regional award for the sustainability project at Bideford College.

Bideford College’s use of £2,400,000 + VAT environmentally friendly aluminium window, doors and curtain walling, manufactured by Hazlemere demonstrated their genuine commitment to sustainability, as aluminium can be recycled again and again without the loss of quality. This is because re-melting of aluminium requires little energy, saving up to 95% of the energy required for primary aluminium production.

Sapa’s contribution to the planning process included a detailed plan to track the recycled aluminium through the supply chain, from extrusion to fabrication and installation. There was also project-specific advice on value engineering to remove cost without compromising quality and design details to improve the weather performance of the curtain walling.

Sapa teamed up with their fabricators Hazlemere Commercial who were appointed by Main Contractors Morgan Sindall. Hazlemere Commercial has subsequently gone on to work on other aluminium fenestration projects for Morgan Sindall including at City College in Plymouth, Mill Water School at Bicton College in Budleigh Salterton in Cornwall, and in 2017 at Bellenden School in Southwark, London SE15.