Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is an independent school that flourishes with 640 day pupils in the senior school and 102 in the junior school. Recent developments include a number of significant building initiatives. In particular, a new £3.7million Science and Art building and, most recently, a £2.7million redevelopment of the sports facilities at Failand. The sixth form centre has also been recently expanded to house the new co-educational facilities which opened in September 2017.
The school is constantly reviewing the use of all school buildings and facilities as their team endeavours to deliver the best possible environment for its pupils. Sarah Bryant B.Sc (Hons) MRICS, the Estates Bursar, contacted Glastonbury Spring Water with a view to upgrading the current water fountains as well as providing a contactless option to enable students to have safe and hygienic access to fresh drinking water. The school’s historic architecture meant a ‘one fits all’ approach was not possible, fortunately as a leading hydration specialist certified by both The Water Dispenser & Hydration Association, and Safe Contractor, Glastonbury Spring Water had options for the school to pursue.
The exterior machines needed to be robust, have a large recess for refillable bottles and be wall mounted, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.
Versafillers offer a high-capacity solution with space for various sized refillable bottles as well as having bottle counters to highlight to pupils, staff and visitors how many one-time use bottles are being saved.
All these benefits combined with a flush wall finish meant they were the perfect solution.
The units are now in place at key points around the school and regularly used by staff & pupils.
Internal areas of the school required floor standing options to replace the existing outdated machines.
The brief was mainly the same with a large recess for refillable bottles and to be aesthetically pleasing, the only difference being a floor standing option was required, capable of withstanding the corridor traffic of a busy school.
Robust and aesthetically pleasing do not always go hand in hand, fortunately with the Kalix water cooler they do, making the machine choice simple.
The two chosen solutions for both inside and out are providing the school with reliable, hassle free, contactless hydration.
Estates Bursar Sarah Bryant says:
“The machines have been installed and are looking great, they are a huge improvement on our previous models. The students now have access to a constant supply of fresh drinking water with hands free activation, especially relevant this year. Having the bottle counter highlights how many one-time use bottles have been saved and has educated the students on the importance of refilling”
