FCC Construcción has completed the works as contractor for Dr. Manuel Fernandes primary and secondary school in the Portuguese town of Abrantes, with an investment of €14 million.

The refurbishment and extension works at the school were initially budgeted at €15 million with a completion time of nearly 18 months, after the contract was suspended nearly three years ago because of “funding issues” affecting the public company Parque Escolar in late 2011, after completing the first phase.

The works were resumed in July 2014 and completed in July 2015.

This school is located on the southern periphery of Abrantes, on a steeply sloping site of nearly 13.5 hectares, on the banks of the river Tagus. Previously it was a private school and agricultural college, although it is now a state school under the auspices of the Portuguese education ministry, providing both primary and secondary education and occupying the buildings that have been added to the upper platform of this huge site.

The previous contract covered the demolition of certain buildings and the construction of other new ones, while meeting the needs for the building to be integrated into the landscape. The three tasks involved in these works have been to refurbish and modernise all the classrooms and other spaces, to open the school to the community with a view to increasing local involvement, and, once the works were completed, to create a management model for the facilities.