Ashfield House Day Nursery is located in Eccleshill, Bradford, providing care for children from a few weeks old through to pre-school children aged 5 years. Opened in 2014, it is an established business and used by many local families for child support while their parents or carers are at work.
Due to the huge success of their nursery located on Stewart Close, Ashfield House wanted to expand to a second premises close by. The client chose a site on Norman Lane, just half a mile away from Stewart Close, complete with a 1920’s public house which had long since closed. Following several tenders to get the scheme to work with the client’s budget, we were appointed as main contractor to carry out the £550,000 refurbishment and extension.
The refurbishment and extension project was split into two key phases:
- A new build two-storey full extension to the current building to create an out-of-school club and office area.
- Extensive refurbishment and re-modelling of the existing building to create the day nursery.
Phase One saw the team from Jupiter focused on the existing building’s remodelling, which was imperative to having the business’ core services up and running quickly. Here, the building was stripped back in full to alter the structure and form a new building layout. An underground drainage system, partitions, wall linings and plastering, suspended ceilings, windows, doors and masonry openings were all created before electrical and mechanical systems installed. Internal joinery including doors, frames, flooring, skirting boards and stair cases were then fitted before the entire facility was decorated ready for hand-over.
Next came Phase Two, the new build for out-of-school care and offices, which was completed whilst the nursery occupied the adjoining building. First, an existing annexe deemed unsafe was demolished in full before a complete new slab, foundations and underground drainage system created. New masonry walls were then built and rendered, with a new timber roof structure added before tiling applied using reclaimed slate. New PVCu windows and aluminium doors completed the external works before the team focused on the building internals – wall linings and plastering, suspended ceilings, joinery (doors, frames, skirting boards), decorating, and all mechanical and electrical works including an alarm system installation. The team also completed the external works, installing a mesh fence to the building’s perimeter, timber fencing round the carpark and play area, and tarmac surfacing.
Both phases of the project were completed in a timely manner, with the existing building ready for occupation from September as planned and the new build completed by November.
