Holmwood House School

Holmwood House School in Colchester marked the opening of its magnificent New Sports Hall designed and built by Hills Construction Limited. Sky Sports Celebrity and England Cricketer Nick Knight was there to draw back the curtains on the commemorative plaque to celebrate the opening.

The Headmaster, Alexander Mitchell, on behalf of the Directors, Staff and Pupils of this highly successful Preparatory School welcomed around 250 guests, including the Mayor of Colchester, to the champagne reception.

Jonathan Hills on behalf of Hills Construction who sponsored the event said: “We are pleased to be involved with this scheme that allows a great many of children here to be able to use this facility for all sorts of different sports ranging from Badminton, Cricket, Tennis, Basketball and Netball, as well as Indoor Hockey and Football. As a company we are great sponsors of sport in the local community and were very happy to be involved in this project. The project opened ahead of programme and on budget.”

Holmwood House is an Independent Preparatory School for pupils from Nursery to Year 8 and has approximately 400 pupils. The School has a fine reputation for sports and of the 34 acres belonging to the School, 18 are sports grounds. They provide 9 pitches for combinations of soccer, rugby or hockey, or 5 cricket pitches, 4 rounders areas and an athletics track, adjoining jumping pits and shot putt circle. Also within the grounds are 5 squash courts, an indoor heated swimming pool, 3 tennis courts, a hard court for 4 further tennis or 3 netball courts, which are floodlit.  There was however a real need for modern indoor sports facilities to supplement the outdoor activities.

The school were concerned with possible difficulties in obtaining planning permission and therefore they contacted Hills.

Hills were asked to obtain planning permission, as well as design and build the new sports hall which can accommodate, amongst others, badminton, hockey, cricket, netball and five a side football. Planning permission was obtained within 8 weeks of submission and commencement on site started 3 weeks after gaining permission.

The sports hall is of a size which will allow other sports and activities to be played and is supported by changing rooms, storage and a spectator gallery.

The new sports hall not only provides the School with a quality indoor sports facility but also accommodates performing arts, concerts and plays.