Lambeth College
Overview
Lambeth College is a Further Education college in the London Borough of Lambeth. It was formed in 1992 from three former institutions - Vauxhall College, Brixton College of Further Education, and South London College.
Lambeth college has 3 sites:
- Clapham Centre
- Brixton Centre
- Vauxhall Centre
The centres have undergone varying levels of refurbishment over the last decade, during which time classrooms and facilities have been constructed and enhanced to meet the requirements of the statutory regulations and the needs of all those who utilise the centre and the facilities within.
WLS work closely with Lambeth College’s facilities team and have been involved in a wide array of development and fit-out works over the last 10 years. Works have ranged from standard redecorations through to extensive construction and re-configuration projects. Due to the imposed restrictions of education term times and financial demands, these works are invariably carried out to strict timescales and budget constraints.
Two of the more recent prominent examples of works carried out by WLS for Clapham Centre are the fit-out works for the new security area, the staff room and the science laboratory.
New Security Office
The security office, situated in the main entranceway into the college, required updating as it no longer met with the legislative requirements of the data protection act. The requirement was for a new security office to be built in place of the old one but this time including a more user friendly open reception desk behind which an opaque glass screen would shield the CCTV monitoring and recording station situated on the reverse side. The works also included the full renovation of the surrounding entrance hall. Once our design had been signed off by the Lambeth college management, the entire area, including the old office, was cleared and repair works were carried out to damaged parts of the floor and ceiling. The new security office was then built in place of the old one but this time it included a changing room for the security staff together with a separate storage area. A management office suite was also constructed alongside enabling security staff to maintain a discreet watching brief on activity in the newly refurbished reception area. The area behind the glass screen now provides a concealed working area where the security guards and authorised personnel can view the CCTV footage and playback and examine the data if required
New Staff Room & Science Laboratory
In response to increasing demand for the provision of science courses at the centre, WLS were again asked to submit their tender to rebuild the present science laboratory and at the same time carry out much needed improvements to the staff room by opening up the floor space that the existing staff room and surrounding classrooms utilized. The new staff room was formed by merging the two existing staff rooms and an adjoining office. Preparation works involved the removal of the existing fixtures, the solid partitioning and the existing electrical fittings. Our team then carried out a total rebuild which included the formation of the new room, replacement of the suspended ceiling, new lighting and electrical outlets in floorboxes, new carpeting and re-decoration in line with the college colour scheme. An access control systems was installed on the staff room entrance doors to provide an area that could only be entered by approved personnel.
The new science laboratory similarly included the installation of all new flooring, fixtures, fittings and a replacement entrance door fitted with access control. WLS had to liaise with a third party to purchase specialist lab equipment for installation. Power, gas, water feeds and outlets were provided and a gas proving system was installed in order to comply with the current gas regulations. The flooring had to be raised to meet the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliance regulations, ensuring that the facilities are accessible to all students and staff. All this work was carried out during the colleges summer holidays and for the returning students the new laboratory has been a huge success.
Client: Lambeth College
Contractor: West London Security Ltd
Contract Length: 2009 - Ongoing
Contract Value: £250K+