Bowland High School, Lancashire
Phased Heating & Hot Water Plant ReplacementBowland High School's heating and hot water plant was fully modernised across two main teaching blocks in a carefully phased programme. Working as principal contractor, Vital Synergy replaced ageing boilers, pumps, pipework and controls in the Garden Block (Summer 2024) and the English Block (Summer 2025), delivering each phase within the school holidays to keep teaching facilities operational and safe throughout. The result is a reliable, high-efficiency, fully compliant heating infrastructure, installed with rigorous gas-safety, asbestos and safeguarding controls, and handed over on schedule in both phases with minimal disruption to the running school.
Client Overview
An operational secondary school within the Acorns Catholic Trust (ACT). The school needed its ageing heating and hot water plant replaced without interrupting teaching, requiring all major works to be sequenced around the academic calendar.
Delivering in a live, occupied school dictated every aspect of the strategy: limited access windows, holiday-only heavy works, twilight shifts during term time, strict site segregation from pupils, and DBS-cleared or escorted personnel throughout.
Replaced the Garden Block plant with three new 120 kW Vaillant gas-fired condensing boilers and the English Block with two Vaillant EcoTEC 37 kW high-efficiency condensing boilers. New stainless steel twin-wall and common flue systems to Clean Air Act 1993 standards, two new 300 L indirect calorifiers, and integration to existing calorifiers and plate heat exchangers.
Grundfos Magna3 twin-head variable-speed pumps on primary and secondary circuits, new low-loss headers for hydraulic separation, and new insulated, labelled LTHW flow and return pipework. System cleaned, flushed and dosed with Sentinel X100, with air-dirt separators, BOSS pressurisation units and sized expansion vessels (150 L / 35 L).
New Loxone Building Management System for zoned, optimised scheduling and remote monitoring. Integrated gas safety interlock, comprising Merlin gas proving panels, CO₂ detection, solenoid shut-off valves, emergency push-buttons and ventilation interlocks, which automatically isolates the gas supply under fault conditions.
Gas Safe tightness testing and certification, flue emission verification by an external specialist, licensed asbestos removal with UKAS-accredited air clearance, plus full handover commissioning: pressure tests, BMS calibration, water-quality sampling and statutory electrical and gas certification.
Key Outcomes and Benefits
Garden Block (2024) and English Block (2025) sequenced block-by-block to keep the rest of the campus heated.
Three 120 kW and two 37 kW Vaillant condensing boilers replacing end-of-life plant across both blocks.
Each phase handed over on schedule despite a late BMS component (Phase 1) and a drilled cable (Phase 2).
All heavy works in the six-week summer break and twilight shifts; heating maintained elsewhere on site.
Gas Safe certification, asbestos air-clearance certificates and statutory electrical/gas tests all completed before handover.
Emergency electrician on site within hours (PO 7921, Nova Electrical) to repair a damaged cable with no slip to handover.
Project Detail
The single greatest constraint on this project was the live, occupied school environment. Teaching facilities had to remain operational and safe throughout, which shaped the entire delivery strategy: heavy works scheduled into the six-week summer break, supplemented by twilight shifts (4:00 pm–2:00 am) for early enabling tasks during term time.
Close coordination held it together. Vital Synergy's project manager and site team worked alongside the school's facilities representative (Mr Alan Wilkinson), the Acorns Catholic Trust, and principal designer Lea Hough Chartered Surveyors, with weekly progress meetings spanning the contractor's PM (Mr Chris Robinson), the Headteacher, ACT trustees and key subcontractors such as Nova Electrical. A dedicated finishing team reinstated and redecorated each area immediately after mechanical works.
Compliance and Safety
A gas safety interlock system, comprising Merlin gas proving panels, solenoid shut-off valves, CO₂ monitors and ventilation interlocks, was integrated into the refurbished plant and science laboratories, automatically isolating the gas supply if ventilation fails or CO₂ limits are exceeded. A Gas Safe–registered engineer carried out full tightness testing and certification under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations, and upgraded flues were inspected against Clean Air Act 1993 emission standards by an external specialist.
Given the buildings' age, a Refurbishment & Demolition Asbestos Survey was completed before works began. Identified ACMs were removed by a licensed contractor under sealed enclosures with negative-pressure units and PPE, with daily air monitoring by an independent UKAS-accredited analyst; main works proceeded only after air clearance certificates were issued. Work zones were segregated by secure hoarding, all personnel held DBS clearance or were escorted, and the principal designer's Construction Phase Plan and Pre-Construction Information governed high-risk tasks, hot works permits and emergency procedures.
Programme and Delivery
Phase 1 (Garden Block) commenced on 19 August 2024 and ran approximately six weeks, with asbestos abatement and setup in week one and five weeks of mechanical installation following. A late delivery of specialist BMS control components caused one minor delay; the team re-sequenced non-dependent works (pipe insulation, flushing) and added evening shifts to recover time, with final commissioning and balancing completed over the autumn half-term (by 23 October 2024) while the building was unoccupied.
Phase 2 (English Block) began in late July 2025, with the two new boilers, pressurisation units, pumps and controls installed by late August. When a control cable was accidentally drilled through during final fix, the team issued PO 7921 to Nova Electrical Installations for an emergency call-out on 24 August 2025; an electrician on site within hours replaced and rerouted the cable with no impact on handover. All systems were fully functional by mid-September 2025, with pressure tests, BMS calibration, water-quality sampling and statutory certifications completed before the autumn term resumed.
Technical Scope Summary
A summary of the key systems upgraded across the project:
Vital Synergy delivered this project in two summer phases exactly as planned, with no impact on term time. The new boiler plant and Loxone controls have transformed reliability across both teaching blocks, and communication throughout was excellent.
Facilities Manager, Bowland High School
