Re-developing Downside Primary School, Luton

This was one of Trulawn’s largest projects to date with over 7,500sqm of grass laid at Downside Primary in Luton, Bedfordshire. The project was part of a massive redevelopment at the school which had grown in recent years due to the merging of the Infant and Primary school.

Downside Primary chose to completely renovate their grounds, with artificial grass for the fields and surrounding areas of the entire school. This was split into three areas to cover, with spaces consisting of 3,500sqm, 3,300sqm and over 700sqm.

Trulawn have laid grass at hundreds of schools and know how to lay and cut around unusually shaped areas. Play equipment is no problem for our team, so the biggest challenge on this kind of project was the scale. The basic principles of installation were actually the same as if you were installing grass in a back garden, but it took a little bit more elbow grease!

For example, after the area was excavated, the ground was edged with 220m of timber edging, 100m of which required haunching. When it came to the aggregate base, this process took some heavy duty machinery with 20 tonne diggers, 6 tonne dumpers and a bulldozer all used in order to get the materials on the area and distributed. Rolls and rolls of weed membrane were pinned down, and when it came to the rolls of grass, the longest roll was 67m and weighed a tonne!

The school chose Trulawn Luxury to update the grounds which is one of the highest quality grasses available on the market. It has a ten year guarantee on UV stability, meaning it will not fade in sunlight. It is durable and made of plastic with great bounce back ability, super for kids to run around on. After Trulawn laid the grass, it was painted with field markings to make it perfect for sports.