Building the leaders of the future

New centre will help close skills gap in construction sector as Government plans to create 1.5 million new homes

A new multi-million-pound Construction Centre to help tackle skills shortages in Hertfordshire has been officially opened with MP Daisy Cooper cutting the ribbon to the state-of-art teaching facilities.

The ambitious Oaklands College project is a 3,000m² new build, making it the UK’s newest teaching centre for all of the construction trades. The centre includes workshops for practical learning for the plumbing, electrical and renewables installation trades, a construction lab, a VR learning suite and general teaching and IT classrooms.

The new building will significantly enhance the student experience and is aimed at improving the quality of training and skills that the college students have available to them.

Cutting-edge sustainability practices and performance have been at the heart of this new building, including the installation of air source heat pumps and solar PV panels. The centre is also one of the first projects in the UK to use bricks made from fully recycled materials.

The MP applauded the college’s efforts to train up students with the skills for the future of construction. She said: “We desperately need to have a construction workforce that is built for the next 10, 15 years, and I really hope that this opening will be at the heart of that.”

The college worked with RG Carter Construction, DLA Architecture and Fusion Project Management to create this impressive new building, and the official launch of the centre was attended by other local colleges and companies, such as Morgan Sindall and RDT Architects, that work with Oaklands to provide work placement for its T Level students.

Principal and CEO Andrew Slade thanked RG Carter Construction for creating an adaptable space. “The building has been designed to make sure we can change rooms to reflect the needs of the industry and make sure we achieve that longevity for this building. And that’s vital because with technology moving at such a pace, we need to be able to adapt our space for future plumbers, electricians and engineers.”

Claire Dolan, Deputy Principal Strategy, Partnership and Business Development, Oaklands College, said: “It is great to get the building open officially and see it teeming with dedicated students who are enjoying the new space.

“We are so grateful to all of the businesses that are supporting our students at the College, offering placement and work experience.

However, our T Level students need 300 hours of work placement over two years to complete their qualification and we really need more construction businesses in Hertfordshire to support us with this.

“Helping our students learn on the job while they are getting the best education in one of the newest college facilities in the country will create the most qualified employees of the future.

“As the Government embarks on an ambitious plan to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years, we need to partner with construction businesses to ensure that we continue to play a key role in this, as a centre of learning excellence for the construction industry, helping young people to harness the emerging technology and tools of the industry for the future, and develop the world-class skills they need for the UK to blaze a trail in this sector.”

As a result of the new Construction Centre, Oaklands has also been picked as one of only six colleges nationwide to partner with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and the Home Builders Federation (NBF) in their ‘Partner a College’ project.

This initiative sees further education colleges that have been identified as having an excellent construction department being invited to get involved with some exciting and prestigious construction projects, giving them a fantastic insight into the industry in action. Oaklands College students will be attached to housebuilders in the South-east area, with those companies yet to be announced.