York College

New Nursery

"The new building allows us to more effectively deliver the education curriculum and provide quality care and education that is exciting, motivating and challenging. It has also helped us to achieve an outstanding Ofsted report for the provision of early education. This is a wonderful new facility."


The Requirement

A new nursery building was required at York College, forming part of Balfour Beatty Construction's £60m redevelopment programme at the college - one of the biggest further education building projects in the UK.


The Solution

Built off site using the Yorkon modular building system to reduce the programme time to just 13 weeks, the single-storey scheme accommodates up to 58 children from six weeks to five years.

It has a range of purpose-designed facilities including:

• three playrooms for different age groups
• a kitchen to allow staff to cater for the children
• staff room
• office accommodation
• parents' room
• a training room for students on the College's childcare courses to observe children
• an outdoor play area and a veranda to provide shelter in adverse weather.

Designed by Bond Bryan Architects, the nursery has a bespoke design to complement the new landmark college building, with features including cedar cladding, render, brickwork, and a striking fully glazed entrance.

The building comprises steel modules, which were manufactured by Yorkon off site in York and craned into position in just two days ready for fitting out. This reduced the programme time by around 50 per cent and is also a highly sustainable method of construction.

The modular method also offers:

• enhanced thermal efficiency to reduce running costs and carbon emissions
• less materials waste and improved recyclability
• fewer vehicle movements to site
• lower energy consumption in the building process
• improved site safety.

Comments from the Client Team

Liz Radford, Centre Manager at the York College Nursery

"Parents, children and staff all love this building, which is a vast improvement on our previous facilities. We like the space, the access to the outdoor play areas, and the parent and training rooms are particularly useful. And there is lots of natural light, creating a bright and airy interior for everyone to enjoy."

"The new building allows us to more effectively deliver the education curriculum and provide quality care and education that is exciting, motivating and challenging. It has also helped us to achieve an outstanding Ofsted report for the provision of early education. This is a wonderful new facility."


Martin Buckley, Construction Director, Balfour Beatty

"We are very pleased with Yorkon's performance and the way the programme was managed. Because of the scale and complexity of the redevelopment programme, we needed to occupy the full site area for as long as possible."

"The modular approach allowed us to continue to use the nursery site for an additional 14 weeks, and yet still guarantee completion in time for the scheduled opening. It also minimised disruption to our other construction operations, which was a key issue on such a busy site."

"The level of management required for the project was much less than with traditional construction. Yorkon managed and commissioned the building, which saved our management time and allowed us to focus on construction of the main college building. The quality of the finished nursery is also very good."