Weald of Kent Grammar School
A four badminton sports hall with fully fitted integrated gymnastics area with landing pit and supplementary artistic gymnastic sprung flooring, retractable bleacher seating, dance studio, café/teaching area and changing facilities. The new Ball Hall sports facility was completed on time and within budget and was officially opened by double Olympic gold medal winner Max Whitlock who then took to the equipment for a demonstration of his skills.
Project Challenges
We have faced a variety of challenges throughout our time developing sports halls. Each project generally presents its own set of complications, sometimes relating to existing structures, surrounding areas or site conditions and in other cases, it’s purely about budget, keeping numerous funding partners happy, or meeting a deadline.
Project Challenges
Our biggest challenge with this project was the critical deadline. Weald of Kent Grammar was a school of national interest as it was the first school to open an “annexe school”, where one school was available on two sites. A lynch pin to the success of this new arrangement was the approach to the sports curriculum. Pupils
from both sites would need to be actively and regularly using the sporting facilities as part of their scheduled school week, as soon as the annexe school opened.
Therefore, the project had to be designed, put through planning and developed within in a relatively short period of time, compared to most project completion times.
This was also a greenbelt project so planning had to go via the Secretary of State and back to the local authority.
Project Solution
Each unique set of circumstances, is thought about and considered, in depth, by Ball Hall at the outset of the project. We bring all of our previous experience and expertise to the fore and try where possible, to apply a combination of creative and pragmatic thinking to problem solve in each case.
Project Solutions
We had to go from concept to completion within a very tight timescale and we were able to turn the project around quickly by bringing in very experienced partners.
We called upon a contractor who had completed several recent Ball Halls for us, negotiated agreeable terms with them and bypassed the usual tender procedure.
We therefore avoided the time lag in that part of the process. Once onboard, our partners who were familiar with the team, the build and our processes were able to work transparently with all parties. Using all of their knowledge and expertise, the Sports Hall was up and completed within budget and crucially, on time.
The new Ball Hall sports facility was officially opened by double Olympic gold medal winner Max Whitlock who then took to the equipment for a demonstration of his skills.
Ball Hall Added Value
With all the difficulties of a project considered upfront and contingency built in for unforeseen events or conditions, Ball Hall deliver outstanding buildings for sport. A Ball Hall Sports Hall often exceeds expectation and consistently becomes a flag waving celebration for the organisation, with many further benefits that materialise over time.
Ball Hall Added Value
We brought a well founded model, which was a tried and tested product, an experienced and familiar team and an established process - which meant we could achieve what we promised and what was required by the time it was needed.
