Laing O’Rourke has reached financial close on the Yorkshire Batch of the Government’s Priority Schools Building Programme that will pave the way for construction works.

With a value of £120 million the project involves the building of seven secondary schools in the West and North Yorkshire areas.

The school buildings are designed around double and triple height spaces for communal areas such as the halls and dining areas, giving the students an abundance of natural daylighting.

Each school will also have its own standalone sports centre with integral changing facilities.The project will be financed under the PF2 model, by a consortium of lenders secured through an Aggregator Vehicle.

The first three schools will move into the new buildings in the early part of 2017, a further three schools following in September 2017, with the largest school becoming available in the Spring of 2018.

The DfMA approach will also offer benefits in the delivery of quality and compliance, with factory standards of quality control being applied to major components such as external wall panels.

This will achieve a consistently high standard of installation which has resulted in the FM service charges, being some of the lowest seen in comparison to similar projects.