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
Clapham Centre is situated opposite Clapham common and has excellent
surroundings including the common itself, the Clapham Picture House
cinema, good local libraries and lots of great bars and cafes. The
centre has 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.
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