Architect: De Rijke Marsh Morgan
Contractor: The Construction Partnership
Type of works: manufacture and installation of Faber roller blinds with 3% Mermet screen fabric.

Clapham Manor School, a successful primary school, became a two-form entry school meeting the increasing demands of the local community. The addition of new classrooms and the remodelling of existing ones help to cope with student levels. The school is within a conservation area, a delicate site: the architect’s design is a 4-storey extension within the height of the existing 3-storey Victorian school. The new extension is set back from the existing Victorian school and linked via a glazed connection. The extension relieves pressure for space within the existing building, and allows remodelling of internal classrooms within the Victorian school to meet DfES area guidelines.

De Rijke Marsh Morgan architects were very specific in what they wanted for the building. They requested a screen fabric with 3% openness and solar properties. Faber provided Mermet Charcoal/Sky screen fabric specifically ordered from France. Moreover, the glazing and mullions on the building were not standard. The architect wanted uniformity in sizes throughout the floors rather than blinds being made traditionally to line up with the window mullions. Faber also provided dimensions of the brackets and head-rail sizes prior to installation to ensure that the contractors built in an adequate sized ceiling pocket to house the blinds for a neat finish.