Grade A Solutions: How Modular Buildings Can Support Schools

UK schools and colleges have faced serious challenges in recent years, from the declining standard of school buildings to budget cuts and increasing student numbers. This has led to an ongoing crisis in some schools, who are struggling to find adequate safe classrooms and space to carry out their daily operations. Here’s how modular cabin hire can help.

Fast deployment

Any disruption to the teaching and learning process can seriously impact student outcomes, and cause a lot of extra work for staff. Whether it’s a natural disaster such as a flash flood or fire, or the result of defective building materials, the need for extra classroom space can arise unexpectedly.

One of the biggest advantages of modular cabins is that they can be deployed rapidly in a crisis, and be fully functional within a few days or even weeks. The structures are largely built off-site, and can be assembled rapidly on almost any flat and firm surface.

This significantly reduces the lengthy construction times, disruption and delays involved in traditional construction work.

Offering greater learning and teaching flexibility

Modular buildings allow schools and colleges to expand their facilities, and therefore the  curriculum without the great expense and lengthy timescales involved in traditional construction methods. This can improve the quality of educational opportunities and outcomes, and enhance the reputation of the school.

For example, modular buildings can offer customised spaces for science and technology labs, art and craft studios, or performing arts spaces. The interiors can be customised with features such as soundproofing for music rooms, bespoke technology for science labs, and integrated lighting and sound systems for drama studios.

Temporary or permanent solutions

The quality of modern portable cabins is now so high that they can be used as permanent additions to the campus, often with lifespans that are the equivalent of a permanent building. They can of course be installed as a temporary measure should a short-term solution be required.

Cost and energy efficient solutions

Schools budgets have become increasingly constrained over the past 15 years, meaning that very few have sufficient funds to invest in conventional new buildings or even the adequate repair and maintenance of existing buildings.

Modular buildings can provide a cost-effective solution, allowing schools to make the expansions or safety improvements that they need. The buildings can be rented on an open-ended contract, bought outright or acquired on a hire purchase basis. This means that fewer upfront costs are required, and ongoing maintenance costs will be lower.

Modular buildings are built to very high standards of energy efficiency, with excellent insulation. This means that they are easy to heat or keep cool, thus lowering fuel bills. They are also compatible with renewable energy sources such as solar panels and air source heat pumps, offering further opportunities for energy saving.

A lifeline for schools affected by Raac

The number of schools in England affected by crumbling concrete is higher than previously thought, according to new data from the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Guardian reports that previously unpublished figures show that hundreds of schools could still be at risk of collapse from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).

This is a lightweight form of concrete that was widely used in public buildings from the 1950s to the 1980s, because it is cheaper and quicker to work with. As far back as the 1990s, engineers warned that this type of concrete was nearing the end of its lifespan, as it was discovered that exposure to moisture and air pollution significantly reduces its strength.

Those public buildings that contain Raac are subject to routine inspections to monitor safety, but in summer 2023, a sudden collapse occurred in a classroom of a school deemed to be at low risk, just a week before the children were due to return to school. This led to hundreds of school buildings being identified as too dangerous to use.

Almost 18 months on, there are still 235 schools with Raac present. With funding for conventional new school buildings or repairs considered to be slow to emerge and inadequate for the scale of the work needed, portable buildings are playing a major role in providing emergency classroom space.