McAvoy Group completes £8m school in Essex
CO Tyrone off-site building giant McAvoy Group has finished work on a £8.2m primary school building in Essex.
The family-run firm, which is led by owner and executive chairperson Orla Corr, manufactured the building in sections at its factory in Lisburn.
And over 12 days, cranes lifted the 67 steel-framed sections and placed them into position at the new Concordia Academy in Romford.
Raymond Millar, construction director at the McAvoy Group, said: “The use of off-site construction has created a watertight building envelope at a much earlier stage in the building project.
“This approach is safer and cleaner for the other trades working on the site and is not dependent on the weather — an important benefit during the winter months.”
The school, which is due to open next year, will accommodate 630 children.
Facilities include 14 classrooms, a music and drama studio, two halls, a kitchen, activity room, small group learning rooms, staff room and administration offices.
Antony Baxter, project director at the UK’s Education and Skills Funding Agency, said: “The infrastructure works, ground preparation, and specifically the modular units, have been well planned and all the modules were installed quickly and efficiently.
“Off-site construction in this instance is helping to manage a tight programme in a constrained location.”
The McAvoy Group is based in Dungannon in Co Tyrone. After a fall in turnover in 2008 and 2009, its annual sales have improved steadily and reached a new level of over £57m in 2016.
The company’s most recent report also records that order levels in 2017 were continuing at an encouraging rate. It employs 174 people and announced plans to recruit another 40 people last year. It also revealed ambitions to increase turnover to £100m. It has offices in Lisburn, Cork, Dublin and Oxford.