The Ipswich-based arm of construction group ISG is on track to ensure that a new £4.7million building for the Bridge Special School in Sprites Lane, Ipswich, is watertight in time for the worst of the winter.

A nine-week programme due to finish on December 19 involves at 100-tonne crawler crane lifting nearly 800 wall and roof panels to make up a cross-laminated timber frame for building.

Then the current phase is competed, render will be applied to the external walls and the internal fit-out will start, including mechanical and electrical and joinery works.

The finished building will provide 10 class spaces, office and specialist accommodation, including an occupational therapy and physio gym, a library, soft play room and a new school hall.

The Bridge School, which caters for children aged three to 16 with special educational needs, currently operates from two sites, several miles apart.

When construction is finished in the summer of next year, the new accommodation will allow the primary-aged children, who at the moment are based next door to Ipswich Hospital, to join the existing secondary school students at the site in Sprites Lane.

The Ipswich-based division of ISG, formerly knwon as ISG Jackson, is a member of the EADT/EDP Top100 listing of the 100 largest companies in Suffolk and Norfolk.

It has been working closely with another Ipswich-based business, Concertus Design & Property Consultants, which undertook the feasibility study, carried out the design and is now managing the project on behalf of Suffolk County Council.

Lisa Chambers, the council’s cabinet member for education and skills said: “Supporting all young people to achieve the very best they possibly can is top priority for us.

“Having secured funding for this project it is great to see the new building beginning to take shape. From September 2015 all young people will be on one site, being taught in facilities that have been purpose built to support their learning needs.”

Headteacher Odran Doran added: “When the new primary school opens, the children’s special educational needs will be met in state-of-the-art facilities.

“As well as the excellent facilities inside the building, every classroom will have access to their own dedicated outdoor area, an outdoor science classroom, a sensory garden and excellent play facilities. Education beyond the classroom is so important for our pupils and these new facilities will provide incredible opportunities to enhance their learning.”