Broxap Street Furniture worked as part of an integrated team to design, manufacture and install a series of shelters at a new, all-age SEN school.

Polden Bower School in Bridgwater, Somerset, is an exceptional facility designed to support young people with complex needs.

The £23 million school is part of an overall £60 million investment by Somerset County Council to improve and expand its Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEN/D) provision.

It includes accessible classrooms, dining hall, sports hall, sensory and therapy rooms and a hydrotherapy pool. Outside a sensory garden, multi-use games area and adventure playground provide lots of spaces to support the pupils' physical and sensory needs.

Their shelter designs reflected the vision of architects AWW who incorporated the latest teaching technology and fully accessible facilities into the site to transform the lives of students.

Led by client Willmott Dixon under the Southern Construction Framework, their shelter solutions helped to provide lots of flexible spaces to support pupils’ physical and sensory needs.

They included an impressive Gullwing entrance canopy. The bespoke installation provides cover to visitors and offers protection in an exposed location.

Four classroom canopies based on their Newcastle Senior shelter allow for outdoor learning while five waterproof fixed square Parasol Tensile Structures bring shade to a courtyard area.

As well as completing the project during the Coronavirus pandemic, other challenges included the flooding of the site during one of the wettest winters on record.

Being located on the edge of the Somerset Levels meant drainage was an ongoing concern. As a result, their weather resistance barrier was applied to the entrance and classroom canopies to ensure longevity. Integral guttering and downpipes discharge water at ground level.

Under the working arrangement with Willmott Dixon, Broxap’s teams fully complied with the client’s request for all quality, health and safety and design information to be inputted on the Field View cloud-based system for a seamless delivery and handover process.