Building Communities with Social Value

Artic Building Services is proud to share our contribution to a community project that took place on Denmark Hill Campus, King’s College London. We understand the critical importance of social value and the vital consideration of all key stakeholders when taking part in any social, economic and environmental projects. It is Artic’s commitment to always be a positive impact on the local communities we work in, so when presented with the opportunity to offer a donation of services to King’s College London, Artic didn’t hesitate to volunteer.

The Project

Looking for ways to improve their workplace community, Megan Williams and Lucy Menage, staff and student respectively at King’s College London discovered unused space that needed revitalising. After discussions held between senior management at the university, a plan was put forward to create a community garden for the campus community to use for planting, recuperation and a safe, social space. Artic Building Services initially offered support to help build the community garden when the on-site residential team were made aware of the plans to develop the space into a community area.

Artic was keen to help develop the space and support King’s College London in their own endeavours to the local area and its community of students. To begin with, King’s College London had a basic re-vamp in mind, however one of Artic’s managing directors saw this as an exciting opportunity for community development. Artic offered to donate engineer’s time and provide full support to the university who, with the additional help from Artic, took the lead in organising a full renovation, deciding what changes to the area their community would most benefit from.

The Tasks

The project was focused on the development of a narrow outdoor space which had become derelict over time. The entire area needed to be stripped back to its bare roots through the removal of previous paintwork, the cleaning of general debris, and the assessment of the health & safety conditions within the area. Artic was happy to be able to donate the residential engineer’s time and they proceeded with completing the former works.

Works completed by Artic Building Services in the community garden consisted of:

• Tidying and cleaning the space ready to be developed on.
• The removal of all dead plant matter and weeds.
• The removal of a previous water feature.
• The repair and maintenance of the outdoor gutters.
• Implementing the collection of rainwater with a water butt.
• The painting and decorating of the walls and surrounding area.

Once these works were completed, the general health & safety assessment needed to be completed to ensure the safety of the area for students and the local community. King’s College London took the lead by organising a subcontractor to check for dangerous substances, such as asbestos. Once the area was confirmed to be free of harmful substances, Artic made the finishing touches, getting the garden up to a good condition to start bringing in the rest of King’s Denmark Hill community. The engineers completed all required works over the course of two weeks and donated a total of 94 working hours.

Although Artic made a positive impact in this project, the engineers were not the only ones to make a great difference to the area. Members of King’s College London plants, seeds and work to get the garden growing. Megan, with support from King’s Sustainability team successfully applied for funding for community events and garden furniture. overall shaping the garden to become a welcoming, and positive space for all key stakeholders in the project.

What Next

The community garden at King’s College London is currently open to the campus community and King’s trust members. King’s College London knows that it can rely on Artic Building Services for any upcoming community projects, and its continued contribution to create positive impact in social, economic and environmental areas of all community’s Artic works in.

Commit to Artic, Commit to Social Value

Artic is proud to have helped build this space for those to enjoy at King’s College London and looks forward to future opportunities to assist in projects beneficial to the local community. Clients can reach out to Artic for any assistance in projects that help to bring positive impact in local communities.

By partnering with Artic Building Services, you are partnering with positive social value change.