Enfield's Highlands School - the first new school opened under the PFI scheme in the UK - has warmed to the benefits of safe, vandal-resistant heating provided by the installation of Solray Radiant Panels from Comyn Ching & Co. Working to the London Borough of Enfield LEA's specification, Highlands School was designed, built, financed and is now operated under PFI by Equion plc, a division of John Laing plc.

The school has effectively satisfied the long-standing needs of the local community in this rapidly expanding part of London, providing the highest standards of secondary education facilities for 1300 students. It also offers sixth form study and inclusive access for disabled pupils. As part of the project, Solray Radiant Panels were extensively specified to run on the school's low temperature hot water heating system and deliver discrete warmth into the Main Hall and Sports Hall areas.

The Solray panels are suspended from the ceiling using a series of drop rods in each Hall. Since the opening of the School, this design has ensured that the maximum amount of space is freely and safely available for School use, eliminating the risk of any obstruction to Hall activities caused, for example, by the installation of ordinary wall mounted radiators. This location, well beyond the reach of students and teachers, has also removed the risk of children inadvertently or deliberately tampering with or damaging the Panels in any way.

Equion has committed to a 25 year partnership with the LEA under the terms of the PFI scheme. As well as building maintenance, Equion FM has taken on the responsibility for catering, cleaning and asset renewal as well as the provision of staff to carry out security, management and monitoring functions for Highlands School.

Solray is the market leading brand in Radiant Panels, already featuring in a growing number of PFI projects across the country. They are versatile enough for completely unobtrusive wall, floor or ceiling installation, can be used with low or medium temperature hot water, steam or electricity and are quick and easy to install, minimising the pipework runs, boxing, controls and other components that would normally be required.

Originally developed by Comyn Ching more than 70 years ago, Solray Radiant Panels have evolved through the generations into modern, highly efficient, state of the art designs. They can be tailor-made to the highest standards of quality and manufactured to suit specific project requirements at the company's London-based design and production facility.