Manor Abbey SEMH School
Updated: Sep 23
A 70-place SEMH school on the former Abbey Hill site, and the first DfE scheme where a tier one contractor built to the OSKOP kit-of-parts standard.
Client: Manor Hall Academy Trust
The brief
The school replaces provision on the former Abbey Hill School site on Greasley Road, Bucknall, for Manor Hall Academy Trust. Seventy places for pupils aged 11 to 16 with social, emotional and mental health needs, plus additional secondary support.
SEMH buildings ask more of the fabric than a standard primary. Robustness, acoustic separation and fire performance all have to hold under harder daily use, and the DfE’s non-combustible and third-party fire-testing standards apply throughout.
The OSKOP approach
Bucknall is the first DfE scheme where a tier one main contractor, Tilbury Douglas, built to the OSKOP kit of parts standard rather than a proprietary system. Timber Innovations designed, manufactured and installed the closed-panel hybrid superstructure: timber frame internal and external walls, precast concrete floors and stairs, and a timber cassette roof.
Because OSKOP’s test data for walls, floors and roof details is open, the contractor could specify tested, non-combustible build-ups from the outset rather than relying on a “similar-to” assumption or tying the client to a single supplier. Non-combustible insulation and A1/A2 rated boards clear the DfE fire bar, and the hybrid frame uses hot-rolled steel and precast planks where the structure needs them.
Tested, not assumed
Fire, acoustic, structural and thermal performance were all independently verified, with third-party reports published rather than held privately. That’s the OSKOP position in practice: the same assemblies can be supplied by more than one factory, the fire detail is embedded from day one rather than value-engineered later, and tender stays competitive on service, price, capacity and experience.
Timber Innovations won 'Supply Chain Partner of the Year 'at the 2025 Structural Timber Awards
Members on this project
Timber Innovations: closed-panel hybrid superstructure:
walls, floors, stairs and roof (frame manufacturer)
Tilbury Douglas: Main contractor (partner)
Ellis Williams: Architect
Knauf: Insulation supplier
Frame manufacturer | OSKOP Member
Part of the Wyckham Blackwell Group, which has five regional timber-frame factories supplying OSKOP-tested wall, floor and roof build-ups across the UK.
