The £16m project to rebuild The Quest Academy – Coloma Trust has reached a significant milestone as Wates Construction hosted a ‘topping out’ ceremony to mark the building being crowned with its roof.

Historically held to bring luck to a new building, the topping out ceremony is held when construction of the uppermost point of a new building has taken place.

The event saw staff join main contractor, Wates, which marked the occasion with the presentation of an engraved trowel to academy sponsors, The Coloma Trust, and Croydon Council, which part funded the project.

Construction of the new 1,115 student capacity building began in the summer on the site adjacent to the existing school, which will be demolished upon completion of the new facility. Taking its place will be a state-of-the-art athletics track with auditorium and landscaped green space. Completion of the building work is scheduled for the new academic year in September 2014 following a build programme of just 59 weeks.

Andy Wates, Family Director of Wates Construction, commented: “Today marks a huge step forward in the delivery of a state-of-the-art building for The Quest Academy and demonstrates the progress made on this excellent facility. Having delivered over 40,000 school and college places over the past four years, Wates has a proven track record in creating exceptional learning environments that enhance the educational experience for both staff and students.”

Principal, Mr Andy Crofts commented, “There is no doubt that this new facility will have an enormous, positive impact on both the staff and students that work and learn here. It has been fascinating to watch the building quite literally growing around us, day by day, and to have got to this landmark point, on-schedule fills me with absolute confidence that we’ll be in the new building in time for the new term in September 2014. We are all looking forward to building on the academic successes we’ve already achieved, in the best educational facilities that Croydon will have to offer.”

Designed by CPMG Architects, the rebuild project is utilising Wates’ innovative Adapt school building model, which can facilitate a 21% reduction in build programme and cost savings on average of 23% against a typical BSF school building.