Our partnership relationship with Willmott Dixon looks to achieve continuous improvement in service performance and delivery, and commits to collaborative working during all stages of the construction process.

This is further illustrated by a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) session we recently presented for key team members of Willmott Dixon. The objective was to impart and share technical knowledge of key elements of the sports construction process and provide Information on our five service divisions. Some twenty executives representing a wide range of responsibilities attended and listened to panel of presenters led by S&C Slatter Commercial Director Jason Douglass.

Both Willmott Dixon and S&C Slatter recognise and support the benefits to be accrued of early supply chain involvement in project development..

Two full size and one training pitch have been completed to the FIH National Performance Standard creating a significant resource for the game which is enjoyed by some seventeen teams at Eton. Obviously S&C Slatter’s status as an FIH Certified Field Builder and its holistic engineering skills were important in pursuing and delivering a build programme tasked with producing an end product of the highest order.

The company’s relationship with manufacturer partner, and FIH Preferred Producer, FieldTurf, also ensured provision of a superb playing surface – the sand-dressed Hockey Gold Elite.

However, the process driver was very much embracing and implementing a highly detailed project plan with finite attention to detail in both pre-build planning and on-site management. Our Pre-Construction Manager Ben O’Connor and Contracts Manager Peter Fowler were key team leaders and they were delighted when independent auditors visited the site during works and scored us maximum marks for quality management system ISO 9001: 2015 and health & safety compliance.

When visiting you’ll even be impressed by the parking arrangements. Its not often that a car park goes beyond the purely practical but that’s the case at Willowbrook. Here the design and layout, including the access roadway and paths, show an eye-pleasing mix of angles, curves, colours and textures which adds visual interest and creates a sense of space. Even the Illuminated bollards set within the borders are softened by the imaginative use of plants such as ornamental grasses.

This type of feature is very much a specialism of the company’s Slatter Surfacing & Civils division. In addition to Eton it has earlier this year completed major car park schemes for independent school clients such as Roedean, Kingshott and The John Lyon School.

The Willowbrook project once again confirms the position of S&C Slatter as the Country’s principal provider of multi-asset sports and leisure facilities.

Prior to introducing the new systems, the company’s refurbishment technicians had to release, uplift and remove from site both the existing artificial grass surfaces and shock pads without causing disruption of the overall pitch structures.

Having completed the removal process and preparation of the sub-base formations, a new in situ-bound rubber shock pad was machine-laid to fine tolerances over each pitch footprint. This is a highly-skilled operation where attention to detail and vigilant supervision of quality assurance is paramount if one is to achieve the required finished specification.

However, S&C Slatter’s ISO 9001:2015 certified Quality Management System provides a control and monitoring framework for all projects; embracing the full range of on-site programmes and activities. This links with our on-going training and education commitment which ensures that all our team members benefit from regular appraisals and personal development courses.

Installed over the new shock pad systems is FieldTurf CORE 42-17 football turf which represents a genuinely revolutionary development in artificial grass technology. The fibre has a hardened centre for exceptional resilience and durability but a soft outer layer for optimum player comfort and interaction. This combination has prompted many to comment that CORE is the most exciting innovation we’ve seen for many years.

The completed full-size pitch has been independently tested and certified as compliant with the FIFA Quality performance standard while the indoor pitch meets the specified requirements of EN 15330-1.

S&C Slatter and manufacturing partner FieldTurf regularly work together on projects funded under the Football Foundation Framework and have earned a reputation for consistently building  and delivering quality football pitches of the highest order. You will also have seen our pitches featuring regularly in televised FA Cup matches most recently at Haringey Borough and previously Maidstone United and Sutton United. In fact, four teams in this year’s first round ties have football turf stadium pitches built by S&C Slatter with FieldTurf playing systems.

Helen, who along with her wife Kate, is a Sports Ambassador for the School, performed the time-honoured tradition of ‘cutting the ribbon’ and used the opportunity to encourage the pupils to take full advantage of the opportunity to practice and play on such a facility. She said that in her experience ‘it really will make a difference’.

The new pitch has been fittingly titled ‘Pitch Perfect’ by the school and is referred to as such on the Donors Board which the Mayor unveiled as part of the ceremony. It has been certified to the FIH National Performance Standard and features a FieldTurf Hockey Gold Elite artificial turf playing surface.

Great sensitivity and imagination were necessary in developing the design and construction specifications due to the technical challenge of the sloping cliff top location and the need to minimise any visual impact on the local environment. The solution developed by S&C Slatter focussed on an extensive cut and fill operation with a series of retaining walls creating construction footprints inset and modelled into the hillside.

Despite the huge amount of excavated material generated by the process, all was retained and re-used on site in accordance with the parameters set by the school and planning authority. This entirely removed the need for costly and disruptive disposal.

However, the hockey pitch is just part of a wider development completed by S&C Slatter which also included the complete refurbishment of the tennis court complex, the creation of a new natural grass sports pitch and the building of a formal tarmacadam car park and access road. A network of new pathways, transitions and hard standings have been formed to link all these elements.

The end result of the project is an outstanding and highly practical asset for the school.

Is your activity area:

• Too hard, uneven or slippery to be a safer surface to run on?
• Too muddy to use when it rains?
• Not a playful space which is bright, colourful and fun?
• In poor general condition?

 
We’re experts in designing and building open space areas for play, general activity and sport. Spaces which are versatile, hard wearing, easy to maintain and just great for kids.

Everything is done ‘in house’ through our own specialist teams.

• Creating a plan
• Work specification and costings
• Surfacing systems
  • Artificial grass
  • Polymeric
  • Macadam
• Construction and installation
• Ancillary features including fencing, access paths and landscaping
• Maintenance and aftercare

 
We’re resourced to deliver projects of all sizes and complexity so call us today on 01635 345210 to arrange an initial discussion on what you want to achieve with your open space.

Ask for Matthew Thompson who is our Project Manager specialising in school play and activity.

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That’s the strong recommendation of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) if you are considering a new artificial turf hockey pitch. They believe this will help protect your school or club’s investment by introducing a contractor who has a proven ability to consistently build to the FIH Hockey Turf and Field Standards.

As you would of course expect S&C Slatter is such an FIH Certified Field Builder.

In fact, we were the first company to receive this prestigious endorsement and certification back in 2016 and since then have installed many pitches which have been awarded an FIH Certificate of Field Performance.

These have included new hockey facilities for Eton College, Roedean School, Benenden School, Yateley Hockey Club, Warwick University.

Among the qualities and capabilities sought by the FIH a field builder must consistently prove to be and or possess:

• A specialist in hockey pitch construction with a detailed knowledge and understanding of the needs of the game.
• Produce the highest approved, independently verified, quality.
• A proven multi-project record of delivering performance-certified facilities.
• In-house design, civil engineering and artificial turf surfacing expertise.
• A robust quality management system.
• Comprehensive maintenance services.

The FIH Certified Field Builder designation is an important part of the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf, which is designed to ensure the sustainability, affordability and accessibility of hockey turf worldwide.

S&C Slatter has a substantial heritage in the design, build & maintenance of sports facilities and estate infrastructure. Our one stop service reach embraces all elements of project development and delivery for new build, refurbishment or replacement programmes.

Five specialist in-house divisions – Sports Construction, Surfacing & Civils, Design & Planning, Sports Maintain and Smart Pitches – provide a group of focussed, customer-centric, in-house resources highly tuned to specific project works and specifications.

Our commitment to in-house resourcing gives us direct and full control over quality assurance and works programming, both of which contribute to a higher standard of finished product.

In addition to its FIH Certified Field Builder status, S&C Slatter is recognised, accredited and certified by a number of governing and advisory bodies. These embrace quality management systems (QMS), procurement, supply chain management and risk management as well as sports and construction-specific performance standards.

The University is acknowledged for its excellence in education, learning and research. However, it also has an illustrious sporting tradition with some of the World’s leading sports stars having studied and played at what is a leading national centre for student sport. These include Michael Atherton, Emma Pooley and many Olympians and Paralympians.

Part of our initial brief was to facilitate an intensive archaeological investigation of a Roman Farmstead believed to be present within the site. With this successfully completed and a good deal of useful information secured by the researchers, we have now moved onto creating the construction formation level and introducing the drainage systems.

A Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) is part of the drainage solution; designed to store below ground a 100-year return period storm event with an allowance of 40% for climate change impact within a slender permeable sub-layer.

The sports ground is actually within an established residential area creating limitations on access, with our works entry point frequently crossed by high density cycle traffic. It’s therefore been essential for us to develop and implement a comprehensive and effective traffic management plan. For example, a significant reduction in the number of necessary vehicle movements has resulted from the construction design solution created by us to maximise the amount of excavated materials retained on site and not requiring off-site transportation and disposal.

This necessitates us engaging in a major on-site earth modelling and profiling process, together with the introduction of ground stabilisation techniques and applications. However, this is well within the competency of our in-house civil engineering team who are highly experienced in meeting such challenges and well-resourced with our own fleet of advanced specification construction equipment.

Our project team is led by Pre-Construction Manager Ben O’Connor and Contracts Manager Peter Fowler. Dave Wills is the Site Supervisor. Together they are responsible for delivering this high profile, full design & construction project which in addition to the sports pitches and immediate infrastructure also includes the provision of car parking and a new electrical supply and sub-station.

Now we’re pleased to welcome Nick Talton to our Pre-Construction team as Quantity Surveyor.

Nick is a highly qualified surveying professional with over ten years’ experience in the construction sector. Having secured a BSc Upper Second-Class degree in Quantity Surveying and Construction Commercial Management from Nottingham Trent University, Nick worked with a floodlighting specialist on projects across commercial, retail and transport industries. Most recently he has been engaged in project development with a national sports pitch consultant.

At S&C Slatter, Nick is undertaking a key role in managing costs and creating enhanced value for money from initial feasibility throughout the entire project life cycle. As such, particular emphasis is placed on assessing material, time and labour inputs – creating plans which advance genuine quality and generate a significant and meaningful client legacy.

Of course quality doesn’t just happen. It’s the product of a structured, planned and managed strategy and process that delivers agreed objectives to target. With Nick joining our team we’re even better equipped to provide a truly inclusive end to end solution for the development of outstanding sports facilities and estate-wide infrastructure via new build, refurbishment or enhancement schemes.

Our project reach beyond the immediate sports area takes in such elements as spectator and user amenities, car parks, access routes and general leisure zones, so Nick’s multi-sector experience will be a strong asset.