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Ashford School appoint Coombs for new nursery and sports pavilion

Ashford School have appointed Coombs to deliver a vibrant new nursery and sports pavilion.

The project will create a new nursery at the Prep School to alleviate their oversubscribed nursery at the Senior School. As well as allowing for more children to enrol, the nursery will act as a feeder for the Prep School.

The aim of CLArchitect’s design is to create a vibrant building reflecting the school’s ethos for adventurous learning. Dual aspect, light and spacious group rooms with access to external play spaces help achieve this aim. The group rooms are located around a dining area at the core of the building that brings all the children and staff together.

The project will improve Ashford School’s visual impact by removing mismatched buildings, while retaining and enhancing existing features such as historic stone walls.

A new sports pavilion will also be delivered as part of our works at Ashford School which also includes enabling works for new changing rooms. The much-needed facilities will support Ashford School’s “competitive sport for all” ethos and busy fixture list.

The new pavilion will provide a mix of changing rooms and a club room offering views across the sports pitches.  The prominent new building will in time become a symbol of Ashford School.

Further information about the new nursery and sports pavilion at Ashford School can be found here. Images courtesy of CLArchitects.

Thrilling game at Canterbury Rugby Football Club

Our long-standing support of Canterbury RFC continued with our sponsorship of an exciting home win.

Coombs support of Canterbury RFC stretches back over 30 years and this year included the donation of a new porch for the club house. Our matchday sponsorship of Canterbury v Henley, at The Marine Travel Ground saw a stirring second half revival.

Canterbury came from behind to overturn a fourteen-point lead and secure the win against Henley. The exciting game was up for grabs until the last minute when Henley’s George Jackson lined up for a decisive conversion attempt.

Thankfully the woodwork came to the rescue as the kick bounced off a post, sealing the home win. Man of the Match was given to Tom Rogers, seen below being presented his award by Coombs’ Chairman, Stephen Ball.

Dreamland Runner-up to Universal Studios Florida at Awards

Dreamland came runner up in the “Best Family Theme Park” category at the annual Family Traveller Awards.

The awards honour the best in the family travel industry and this year attracted over 40,000 votes. With Dreamland coming runner-up only to Universal Studios Florida. In total over 2,000 companies were nominated.

We are proud to have contributed to such an amazing achievement. Our work at Dreamland with Thanet District Council has spanned multiple phases since we started urgent repair works in 2011 to our most recent project at The Sunshine Café.

Congratulations to everybody involved!

Discoveries at Dreamland

The restoration work that’s happening at Dreamland continues to be a journey of discovery.

The team on site are currently installing a new lift in the iconic cinema complex building. To do so they have removed the original goods lift and the dumb waiter that was once used to deliver food to the Sunshine Café. Built by J&E Hall of Dartford, the 1930s cage lift still has the service panel complete with light switch and operating guidance as well as all its winding gear.

Over the course of the work more and more layers of Dreamland history are revealing themselves. Elements of the Bali Hai décor have been uncovered too. This includes some of the original wood panelling and bamboo framed wall paintings reflecting the legendary bar’s South Pacific theme.

Special thanks to Thanet District Council for the pictures below:

 

Jo Brand opens Canterbury Christ Church University’s Salomons Centre

Top comedian Jo Brand opens new psychology unit delivered in partnership with Coombs

Jo Brand officially opened Canterbury Christ Church University’s new Tunbridge Wells site. Located on Meadow Road, the Salomons Centre is the latest in a long line of projects delivered for the university.

Working in partnership with Betteridge & Milsom, HMY and Evans & Langford we transformed this 5-storey former office block into teaching, library and support accommodation.

The scheme achieved an outstanding 88% KPI rating as a result of the whole project team. Our local supply chain pulled together to deliver the impressive new facilities during an intensive 10-week period.

The Salomons Centre will offer postgraduate courses in the areas of applied psychology and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Jo Brand’s association with the University started with the development of the Buddy Scheme. This pairs second year Mental Health Nursing students with a buddy who is a current mental health user. The scheme helps students understand their role and responsibilities as a mental health nurse. The scheme has won many national awards and commendations.

Mental health is a personal and professional concern for Jo. After working in psychiatric nursing for ten years, she began a career in stand-up comedy. Her experiences as a psychiatric nurse are often incorporated into her routines, increasing awareness of the work done in the field of mental health.

Furthermore, Jo was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2014, for her work raising awareness of mental health issues and challenging the stigma surrounding these illnesses.

Our work with Canterbury Christ Church University has seen a variety of buildings on their main Canterbury campus, such as the Laud Building, Maxwell Davies Building as well as the Grade II listed St Gregory’s Church in addition to other areas transformed for the benefit of their students. Selection of images reproduced courtesy of Canterbury Christ Church University.