Answers to FAQs on Outdoor Classrooms
We frequently get asked about certain information relating to our outdoor classrooms so we thought that we would provide answers to the most common ones below:
- What size do I need? The answer to this is usually driven by three mitigating factors – how many children are you wanting to accommodate in the building; will it fit in the area you have designated at the school and somewhat crucially nowadays, what is the overall budget in mind? But as a general rule of thumb, if you are looking to cater for a class of 30 children, then a 5m octagonal or 5 x 4m rectangular outdoor classroom would suffice. A smaller 4m octagonal would fit 22 children. This is assuming you are a primary school as nurseries could probably fit in more children to these above sizes.
- Does it need to have a base? If we are siting the outdoor classroom onto an existing hard surface (such as tarmac, concrete, patio slabs etc), then typically it doesn’t require a supporting base. If however we are going to be siting onto grass or an uneven area, then yes the building will require a base. This can be done by either having a timber sub-frame base, concrete pads or ground screw fixing systems. We can advise on this after having conducted a site survey when we can ascertain the ground conditions and levels.
- Does the building need insulation? This question really only relates to our enclosed outdoor classrooms and not our open sided gazebos. We do offer classrooms with insulation options but we really only advise going to this extra cost if you are intending on heating the building. But remember too that insulation keeps heat in and keeps heat out as well so in the warmer summer months, the inside temperature is not too oppressive. For some of our buildings, we do offer cedar external cladding and cedar shingle tiles for the roof because cedar has the highest natural insulating properties of all softwoods
- How long does it take to install? The answer to this question is very much dependent upon the specification of the outdoor classroom we would be supplying to the school but in the main, an outdoor classroom gazebo would be installed within a couple of days and the larger enclosed versions would take an average of a week on site. Our pods however can be installed within a couple of hours as they are pre-manufactured units which are delivered to site on the back of a truck and either craned into position or fork lifted.
- What guarantees do you give? One year guarantee against faulty workmanship and materials and 15 years against timber rot, degradation or decay on the cedar and 10 years on the redwood pine
- What are the roof options? On our rectangular outdoor classrooms, you can either have a hipped roof with either felt or cedar shingle tiles (which is the most common) or a mono pitch pent roof. For our gazebos, we offer a choice of options for the roof coverings – these are felt shingle tiles (available in three different colours), cedar shingle tiles or a marine grade canvas (available in different colours). In some instances, we have supplied roofs with the very eco friendly sedum but these do tend to be quite a bit more expensive
- Do I need planning permission? On our blog site, we have answered this question in some quite expansive detail but if you have any questions, do let us know as it is one of the most frequently asked questions
- Do I need building regs? For the majority of our outdoor classroom range, the answer is no
- Do you offer any promotional support? Yes we do. We run a couple of programmes on this – one being our customer referral system whereby we will commission your school or PTA if you recommend us to another school and a sale ensues. Or if your school can feature our product on your website with a reference to our company, then we will offer a discount on the sale price.
- Can you do site visits? Most emphatically yes. We will always want to do this anyway before a sale is committed to as we need to undertake a site survey of the area. But we also obviously like to meet with the school staff and school councils to talk through the various options and get a better idea as to what is the best solution
- What options do you offer? We like to think that we offer the most comprehensive range of additional options – these range from renewable energy systems including wind, solar and pedal power, upper side panels, water butt and roof guttering. For the enclosed range, options include French for bi-fold doors, insulation and atrium roof. More information can be seen on the link below
- optional extras
- Can you offer advice on funding? Again very much so. We have put together our own comprehensive funding guide for schools (which includes details on grants, corporate sponsorship & donations, how to rent out existing school facilities plus crowdfunding details too) if you wanted to look at sourcing and applying for funds yourself…or we can put you in touch with funding consultants who specialise in the educational sector. We also run a blog on funding issues for schools which I have copied you in on the link:https://www.hideouthouse.com/category/funding/
For further information on the outdoor classroom range from the Hideout House Company, please contact us on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com