Added: 29TH JULY 2024
The indicative drainage design for the Hazelwood School project.
Hazelwood School is an award-winning independent prep school set in 25 acres of woodland near Oxted, Surrey. With an emphasis on holistic, integrated learning that supplements classroom education with thoughtful use of outdoor space, the site provides a wide variety of outdoor spaces to provide a broader, more varied scope for its pupils. Whilst many of these spaces are designed to complement traditional classroom subjects, there is of course excellent provision for sports, which are held in high regard by the school, with pupils receiving up to six hours of physical education per week; however, despite the recent addition of an all-weather pitch to the site, the staff were keen to revitalise their natural turf sports facilities, which have been suffering from persistent waterlogging problems that have been exacerbated in recent years.
With Turfdry’s impeccable reputation for providing long-term, cost-effective drainage solutions for educational establishments across the UK, the firm was a natural choice for the school. Though investment in other parts of the site meant that a number of years passed between the initial site visit and the eventual work, the school remained in contact with Turfdry in the intervening years, and demonstrating great enthusiasm to proceed with the works once the necessary funds were available.
With the site’s multi-tiered nature – which sees facilities cascade down numerous levels from the main school building down to the sports pitches – the biggest challenge for the installation was the sometimes quite tight spaces required to manoeuvre the machines. Additionally, whilst the works were undertaken during the school holidays, the site was still a bustling hub of activity, with a wide ranging summer school programme in full swing, necessitating careful management of the works as to complete them safely, and without unduly disrupting these activities.
Combining Turfdry’s decades of experience working on a wide variety of sites with close liaison with the site’s facilities manager however, the project progressed smoothly, and school staff seemed delighted with the results by the time the team was finishing up the works. However, the true test of the project will come with the rain later in the year, when we have no doubt that they will enjoy the revitalised facilities that can help inspire a new generation of young athletes.
For more information about the Turfdry Drainage System using Hydraway Sportsdrain, click here, or why not take a look at some of our other educational facility projects at Concord College, The University of Warwick, and Keele University.
