Context
Langley Park School for Girls is a large secondary school with approximately 1,200 students across a multi-building campus in Beckenham, south London. The school sought a specialist contractor to manage the full replacement of its fire door provision, installing 139 BM TRADA-certified fire-rated timber door sets across six buildings. The requirement was not simply for product supply, but for a partner capable of delivering a complex, safety-critical upgrade within a live school environment with minimal disruption to staff, students, and operations.
Challenge
Delivering a £338,000 fire door replacement programme across an occupied educational campus presented several operational and logistical challenges:
Campus complexity and safety: Works spanning six buildings required meticulous coordination to maintain fire safety compliance throughout the project, without compromising day-to-day school operations or the safety of students and staff.
Programme constraints: The project timeline was tightly aligned to school holiday periods, requiring early procurement decisions and precise scheduling to meet the Summer 2025 deadline and subsequent phased delivery across the academic year.
Specification accuracy: Pre-tender surveys identified discrepancies within the original specification. Drawing on experience from similar education projects, Capital Fire Doors proposed refinements that enhanced compliance, durability, and cost efficiency — adding immediate value before a single door was manufactured.
Solution
Capital Fire Doors, part of Complii, brought a structured, collaborative approach to every stage of the project - from early engagement through to phased installation:
Early engagement and detailed planning: An initial site meeting was held to fully understand the client's requirements, followed by a pre-tender survey to capture door locations, dimensions, and site constraints. This enabled improved cost certainty and informed every stage of the programme.
Factory manufacture and quality assurance: Pre-hung and pre-finished door sets were selected to improve installation efficiency and product quality. All ironmongery was pre-fitted under controlled factory conditions, ensuring consistency and maintaining full fire certification in line with BM TRADA standards.
Phased installation strategy: Works were carefully scheduled around school activities and holiday periods (Summer 2025, October Half Term 2025, and Easter Half Term 2026), ensuring continuity of school operations throughout. On-site logistics, storage, waste management, and power safety were all actively managed to protect the live environment.
Collaborative client partnership: CFD worked closely with the client through tender, award, and approval stages, ensuring all technical and compliance requirements were met prior to manufacture. Health and safety plans, risk assessments, and method statements were prepared and approved in advance of any works commencing.
Results
The project was completed on time, under budget, and without incident - delivering measurable improvements to fire safety, compliance, and client confidence:
Full fire safety compliance achieved: 139 BM TRADA-certified fire-rated door sets were successfully installed across six buildings, bringing the school's fire safety provisions up to the required standard.
Zero disruption to school operations: The phased delivery model ensured that learning and school life continued uninterrupted, with all works executed safely within a live educational environment.
Long-term client relationship secured: Ongoing client satisfaction has led directly to further tender opportunities on similar projects, demonstrating the strength of the partnership built throughout delivery.