Neptunus builds temporary structure in Brussels
The Assignment
The British School of Brussels (BSB) is an English-language dayschool which provides education to 1,350 students aged from one to 18 years of age.
Renowned for its outstanding facilities and set within a purposebuilt campus in the picturesque grounds of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren to the east of Brussels, the BSB was founded in 1969. More than 40 per cent of its students are British with the remainder from 70 different nationalities.
BSB has a primary school for infants through to 11-years and a secondary school for pupils aged from 11-18. It is the only school in Belgium offering three pre-university routes to its students through A Levels, the International Baccalaureate Diploma and BTEC vocational courses in Business, Hospitality and Sport.
When the prestigious school embarked on a new state-of-theart sports centre development, it urgently required temporary sporting facilities to be put in place for students during the 2-year build programme, ensuring activities could continue without interruption while the construction work was carried out.
The Solution
Neptunus’ technicians supplied a turnkey solution by creating two temporary sports halls within two Evolution III temporary buildings. Covering a total of 900 square metres and standing 8 metres in height, they enable a variety of sports to take place inside.
Crucially, construction of the temporary facilities had to be undertaken in August 2014 during the summer school holidays. It took a 10-strong team from Neptunus just four weeks to complete the build process with both halls ready and operational by the time students returned for the new academic year.
The Evolution III’s clear span environment offers the versatility and flexibility to accommodate a wide range of sports while its solid, insulated fixed roof is built with the capability of coping with heavy snow loads. Neptunus and its subcontractors were responsible for flooring, lighting, heating and curtains which enable the halls to be partitioned off for multiple classes to be taught simultaneously.
The structures will remain on site for a period of two years while a permanent new centre incorporating a sports hall, gymnasium and swimming pool is built which is scheduled to open in 2016.
The Challenges
Speed was absolutely essential as the temporary facility had to be constructed during the school holiday and be fully operational by the time students returned from their vacation. The structures were built on two tennis courts, situated in a wooded area alongside the playing fields, which provided challenges for access for cranes and the heavy vehicles needed to transport Neptunus’ equipment on to the site. However, despite the accessibility issues the temporary sports hall were both fully operational on time.
The Verdict
Johan Servranckx, BSB’s Finance and Operations Director, said that Neptunus offered the best solution with the temporary accommodation creating ‘bigger and better’ sports halls than the original sports facilities used by the students. He said Neptunus’ technicians delivered the temporary facilities swiftly in a smooth operation.
BSB were impressed with Neptunus’ overall expertise; the quality of the temporary buildings and Evolution III’s ability to withstand heavy snow loads on its fixed roof – helping to allay concerns about Health & Safety.
