Hurstpierpoint College

HOP have had a long association with Hurstpierpoint College, providing civil and structural services on a variety of projects.

Some of the larger projects, over £2 million in value, include a 3-storey classroom block, extension of the Science Block and a new Learning & Research Centre.

HOP has provided input on many smaller projects such as, extending Boarding Houses and adapting accommodation to meet the ongoing changing needs of the College.

HOP has been engaged to provide roads and drainage services across all areas of the site. In particular, we designed the new main car park in challenging heavy clay. Limited capacity in the local drainage system, sloping topography and low ground permeability resulted in a hybrid crate and permeable sub base solution being proposed to manage water flows with permeable block paving over.

Our design mitigated flood risks through the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). The use of permeable paving offers a natural form of oil interception and the use of crate bands under the permeable sub base allows water to dissipate into the ground naturally. The permeable sub base replaces the traditional road sub base, so excavation volumes were reduced and the crate used was reduced over a normal attenuation scheme due to the capacity then available in the sub base.

The scheme won the ICE South East England Geoffrey Osborne Award for Innovation in 2009 and was Highly Commended in the Small Project Award.