State-of-the-art athletics track installed at Stowe School

While the day-to-day maintenance of the school’s facilities is of paramount importance, there is also a need to continually develop and improve to ensure that Stowe School remains a leader among its competitors in terms of its sporting facilities. One such project is the recent replacement of the school’s ageing athletics track with a new, state-of-the-art track to conform to UK Athletics performance criteria.

Total Turf Solutions (TTS) was appointed to lead the project, from advising on the best solution and materials to meet the brief, through to designing the track and managing the contractors up to completion. TTS’s thorough understanding of the task in hand was influential in its appointment as consultant, as Steve Curley, Head Groundsman explains:

“We interviewed two potential consultants but TTS stood out as they had a deep understanding of the task in hand and were competitive on pricing. TTS had also recently completed a project to construct new sports pitches for us on existing agricultural land, so we knew the way they worked and were confident they could deliver the goods.”

TTS recommended removing the existing Redgras track and excavating the area to allow space for the construction of a new eight lane track and field events area. The track construction itself would involve the installation of kerbs and sub-base followed by a tar macadam base, laying of a Polytan M Sandwich System track surface and lining of the track. Alongside this a field events area and central grass area, to be used as a football pitch, were also to be constructed.

Due to the site’s relationship with the surrounding National Trust land, extra consideration had to be given to the project’s visual impact and the Trust consulted on every key decision, from the colour of the track through to the removal of any trees, as TTS lead technical consultant on the project, Dr Andy McLeod, explains:

“Stowe School provided a fairly unique challenge for us in that it’s uncommon for brand new sports facilities to be built within the confines of landscapes protected by the National Trust. The old imperial track was not of sufficient size to conform to UK Athletics performance criteria so the site needed to be extended to metric measurements, something which created challenges in its own right. One such challenge was the fact that a 200 year-old Ginko tree, one of just two in the UK, is located on the site where we were working so special measures had to be taken to ensure its safety. We also needed to excavate an area that resulted in the need for a retaining wall to be built – however, the wall had to aesthetically fit within the existing landscape and the solution we came up with was to use a timber crimp system. More generally, we had to make sure that any construction didn’t affect the site lines between the various buildings and monuments in the area. By working closely with both the school and the National Trust, we were able to provide a solution that has kept all parties happy.”

Completed in September 2009 the track has been a valuable addition to the school’s sporting facilities. Steve Curley says:
“I’d comfortably recommend TTS to anyone looking to appoint a consultant to oversee a project of this scale down to their honest, accessible approach, in-depth knowledge and the generally the manner in which they conduct projects.”

For further information on Total Turf Solutions sports surface consultancy services visit www.totalturfsolutions.co.uk; to discuss a project with a member of our team please call 01604 862925.