Ysgol Caer Elen - Withybush Welsh Medium School

Our team in Wales delivered a new Welsh medium 3-16 Ysgol Caer Elen through school in Haverfordwest for Pembrokeshire County Council, the county's second medium comprehensive outside the Welsh-speaking heartland of north Pembrokeshire.

Ysgol Caer Elen has capacity for 315 primary pupils, plus another 600 in the secondary part, with 45 places at the school's nursery and another 24 in the Cylch Meithrin.

The BREEAM excellent rated school provides 9,042 square metres and promises to increase the numbers of Welsh-speaking in the local community for generations to come.

We built this in two phases, with primary school pupils starting in September 2018 and phase two being occupied in November; six weeks prior to its planned handover.

The school is particularly sustainable, not only did it achieve the energy efficiency rating of BREEAM Excellent but 99% of waste from the project was diverted from landfill and the project team paid particular attention to the site set up, reducing the environmental impact associated with the construction, such as reducing need for site generators, using LED temporary lighting and using a night power shut down to ensure energy was not wasted.

Like all our projects, the team were committed to leaving a lasting positive local legacy and led many different activities throughout the project including being part of the national Open Doors week, holding a project open day for the community, STEM and construction workshops for local schools and charity days. The team also donated time to renovating Withybush Hospital’s creche outdoor play area.

Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon in Wales and the West said:

"It has been a real pleasure working on the new Welsh medium school, providing a fantastic new educational facility for generations to come."

The project over-achieved on its social value targets by 130% offering:

• 819 weeks of apprentice onsite experience
• 129 weeks trainee onsite experience
• 77 weeks of work experience
• 54 weeks long term unemployed experience
• 387 weeks new entrant experience

The project was handed over on time, in budget and defect free.