Location: Leyland, Lancashire

A six-week school holiday programme gave JSJ UK a fixed window to reconfigure the entrance to the Westfield Building at Academy @ Worden and transform the reception area, creating a more visible and welcoming point of arrival for pupils, staff and visitors ahead of the 2026 academic year.

Academy @ Worden acquired the former Lancashire County Council building in 2024 and brought it into use immediately to provide much-needed capacity for increasing pupil numbers. However, the existing entrance and reception were not in a prominent or easily visible location, creating the need for a clearer, more accessible arrival point.

JSJ UK was appointed as main contractor to reconfigure the building’s entrance and revamp the reception area. Providing a single point of accountability, our team managed the works from the initial strip-out and groundworks through to bespoke manufacture, delivery, installation, finishing and final cleaning.

Significant external works were required to establish a more visible and clearly defined entrance. These included groundworks, bricking up the previous entrance, forming a new entrance opening and constructing new ramps, steps, walls and handrails.

Internally, we stripped out the existing reception area, removing the previous reception desk, partitions, doors and flooring.  The revamped space incorporated a new entrance canopy and signage, aluminium and timber door sets, automatic entrance doors and a glazed office, new flooring and fresh decoration creating a more prominent and welcoming arrival experience.

A focal point of the revamped reception area is the bespoke desk, designed and manufactured at our Preston HQ. Finished in Academy @ Worden’s distinctive purple colour scheme and incorporating a privacy screen, it was delivered and installed by our team as part of the coordinated six-week programme.

Alongside the entrance and reception transformation, the changing rooms were comprehensively upgraded as part of the wider refurbishment. The existing changing room fixtures and fittings were removed before we installed PVC wall cladding, shower cubicles, toilet cubicles and changing benches.  Replacement lighting, new flooring and decoration completed the refurbishment.

Delivering the entire project within the six-week school holiday presented a significant logistical challenge, with every stage carefully planned around a fixed completion date and no flexibility to extend the programme into the new school year. Coordinating multiple trades, material deliveries, bespoke joinery manufacture and installation within this window required close management throughout.

The external works, entrance reconfiguration and internal refurbishment were completed on time ready for Academy @ Worden to welcome pupils for the start of the 2026 academic year, demonstrating JSJ UK’s ability to manage complex, multi-trade projects from initial works through to final handover.