Beard’s Guildford branch delivers £6.3m refurbishment and rebuild at Surrey school

Beard Construction’s Guildford team has completed the £6.3 million refurbishment and rebuild of St Andrew’s Catholic Secondary School in Leatherhead.

The work, which began in March 2022, included the conversion of existing classrooms into science labs, ICT rooms, a drama studio, and design and tech classrooms. There was also the construction of a two-storey extension to create new classrooms and offices, and the construction of a new two-storey building to house food technology, ICT, business studies work rooms, and a new drama studio.

Beard Guildford director Pat Hughes said: “Beard has special expertise in the education sector and we are more than aware of the importance of creating spaces which both inspire pupils to learn as well as being great places for teachers to work. This project has transformed the learning experience for the pupils and staff at St Andrew’s School.”

Phases one and two of the construction work were completed during the summer holidays, during this time the conversion of existing classrooms was completed. The finished science labs included gas infrastructure and mobile fume-cupboards, and the new drama studio incorporated a new system of lighting rigs and speakers.

Following this, phase three of construction saw a standalone classroom block converted into new construction and DT teaching spaces. For phase four a new-build extension added two 400 metre sq ft floors consisting of: nine new English and History classrooms, two offices, and two new sets of toilets to the school’s existing Earl Building. All of the new classrooms feature 5 metre windows.

Finally, the fifth phase of the project saw the demolition of the school’s Woodlands Building and the construction of a new two-storey block. The ground floor of this new 1000 metre sq ft block is home to two new food tech teaching and preparation areas and a drama studio with a 6 metre high ceiling. The upstairs of the new building has four fully fitted ICT/business studies teaching rooms.  The building also includes office spaces and two sets of toilets.

St Andrew’s headteacher Alan Mitchell said: “The ambition at St Andrew’s is simple – to be the best school in the country. We set the highest goals and expectations for every pupil and these new classrooms and teaching facilities provide the infrastructure to help us deliver on that ethos.

“Not only has the Beard team delivered a quality product on time, but it has done so with no disruption to the school’s day-to-day operation. ”

Beard worked in close collaboration throughout the project with architect Hamson Barron Smith. 

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