ACO has provided a whole range of drainage solutions for a £24m state-of-the-art academy school in Cheltenham that has since been nominated for a
design prize by the British Council for School Environments (BCSE). All Saints’ Academy was designed by Nicholas Hare Architects LLP and was shortlisted for Best Secondary School project in the BCSE Awards for 2012.

The Academy building has already been hailed as the most iconic school building in the South West by the local press. Among the solutions provided by ACO were rainwater outlets for the roof, a bespoke tundish for the kitchen, and modular channels and gullies throughout.

The three-storey building in west Cheltenham provides secondary education for 900 pupils and 200 sixth formers, incorporating a 4-court sports hall, gym and dance studios at first floor level that are also made available for community use.

ACO Modular channels were supplied and installed in the changing rooms, providing compact and attractive capacity drainage in corrosion-resistant stainless steel, while discreet drainage channels were specified for the external paving, supporting the need to maintain clean, functional design throughout the building. These products were specified from ACO’s Modular 125 Stainless Steel Linear Drainage range, a fully flexible system tested and classified BS EN 1433 - Drainage Channels for Vehicular & Pedestrian Areas.

In addition to the drainage channels, ACO gullies were supplied throughout, offering hygiene, durability and performance. All Gully systems are manufactured in austenitic stainless steel grades 304 and 316 and fully pickle passivated for corrosion resistance. The bowl-shaped design of the gullies minimises siltation and all models include an integral foul air trap.

ACO solutions were specified in all corners of the building. For the kitchen ACO created a bespoke tundish (a funnel to collect drips from the combi), while rainwater outlets were tailor-made for the roof. ACO fashioned these outlets with bespoke spigots, as standard spigots would not have offered the required length.

“ACO did an excellent job, on budget, using high quality components that look aesthetically very good,” said Craig Madders, Construction Supervisor, Skanska.“ACO are an ideal partner on a job like this because they can work well with a wide range of floor types – tiling, painted floors and so on – and offer a range of different depths to satisfy different construction techniques. They gave us lots of options. ACO serviced, measured up and delivered all the parts to ensure the best possible result and they were always on hand when something urgent needed to be addressed.”