I read with interest the comment from John McDonough of Carillion calling for sample schemes to be scrapped to cut the cost of bidding for 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future (BSF) projects (18 September, page 11)

When schools are created on an individual basis, using more experimental designs and materials, learning curves are often steep. This is bound to affect time and budgets, and the track record of BSF to date suggests it has only a limited supply of both.

Although school design and style remain important elements of the BSF brief, it should not be at the expense of the effective delivery of the programme. If a slightly more standardised approach to design were adopted, the planning, methods of construction and materials specification could become more uniform and therefore less likely to incur challenges, delays and higher costs. This could also help reduce the need for so many sample schemes.

Andrew Reid, Profile 22

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