Hammersmith and Fulham Council has begun investing £20 million installing newer, safer windows in schools across the borough.

Addison Primary School in Brook Green, pictured here, is the first to benefit from the scheme.

The council says windows across many of H&F’s schools, particularly those in Victorian and Edwardian period schools, have reached the end of their useful lives and need to be replaced with modern, energy efficient double-glazed windows.

The replacement programme was approved by the council early in 2015.

" We need to give our school children the best possible learning environments to allow them to thrive and be warm and this investment reaffirms our support of the borough’s schools," says Cllr Sue MacMillan, H&F Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Education.

"The existing windows at many schools are no longer fit for purpose and even risk becoming unsafe, so our replacement programme represents an investment, not only in better learning outcomes for our children, but also increased energy efficiency in school buildings for decades to come."

Earlier this year H&F Council’s Cabinet appointed 3BM Ltd to project manage the replacement and repair programme which will be funded by a £20million capital works investment over three years.

3BM has also recently completed a specialist sports and science block at nearby Sacred Heart High and designed and project managed building of a new home for Queensmill School in Shepherd's Bush.

Due to some of the buildings being listed and in conservation areas, timber-framed windows will be used rather than plastic PVC-u frames, to reflect the character of the buildings.

Although these timber frames are initially more expensive than the plastic options, they have a considerably longer service life, of at least fifty years, and so represent a far better value-for-money investment.

They also outperform plastic frames for retaining carbon dioxide and so will also be more energy efficient, saving energy costs for schools and cutting carbon emissions.

The council says work on the schools will be undertaken based on urgency, following extensive surveys.

January 5, 2016