Construction and infrastructure firm Morgan Sindall has started work on the £15.4 million special educational needs school project in Essex.

Essex County Council has funded the Glenwood School development which will be a specially designed education centre for young people with severe learning difficulties.

Situated in Benfleet, the two storey school will include state of the art facilities to support over 200 children and young adults.

Featured in the building will be 26 classrooms, a hydrotherapy pool, along with specialist facilities that will help meet the sensory needs of young people, including a trampoline room and swing therapy rooms to help promote body awareness, postural control, sequencing and sense organisation.

Morgan Sindall will also be responsible for the development of an independent living area within the school, which will prepare older students for adulthood, along with an immersive room that will use projection imagery to stimulate a series of environments.

Also featured in the new building will be design technology facilities and music rooms to encourage creativity, and a number of vocational bases including soft play rooms and two hall spaces for group activities.

The project team at Morgan Sindall will also deliver external works, including a car park for 110 vehicles and an outdoor play area.

Morgan Sindall Area Director, Gavin Napper, said that they are delighted to have been selected for this crucial project, which will help to alleviate demand for special educational needs school places in Essex.

Napper added: “Schools like Glenwood are truly exceptional places providing the very best support and learning opportunities for children and young adults with special educational needs.

“The outstanding facilities at the new building will provide a secure, innovative and exciting learning space for pupils at Glenwood School and we look forward to handing over the keys in time for the beginning of the autumn term in 2017.”