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NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATES

Each month PSBJ rounds up the latest public sector construction updates, from new contracts to industry awards.

Completed works on Coventry secondary school celebrated at ribbon-cutting ceremony Timely progress on latest specialist academy project in Middlesbrough

Midlands-based contractor G F Tomlinson has completed the expansion and refurbishment of Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Coventry, for Coventry City Council. The completion of the project was marked with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, with G F Tomlinson’s Managing Director, Chris Flint, and the school’s Headteacher, Emma O’Connor, in attendance, alongside representatives from Seymour Harris Architects and Coventry City Council. The occasion was celebrated with a number of short speeches from stakeholders, a vote of thanks and a blessing of the newly-refurbished school by school Chaplain Fr Pat Brennan and Canon Tom Farrell. The project, led by G F Tomlinson, consisted of the construction of a new dining hall and the refurbishment and remodelling of existing classroom and dining spaces to create optimised teaching facilities which will allow for an additional 200 places at the school – in line with the Government’s drive to provide extra student spaces in Coventry. Procured through Pagabo’s National Framework for Medium Works, this was the first scheme G F Tomlinson had been awarded through the framework in its allocated region, which covers projects between the value of £1m and £5m in the West Midlands. Award-winning Durham-based architectural practice, Howarth Litchfield, has announced timely progress is being made on its latest multidisciplinary commission in the specialist education sector – the new £7.7m Discovery Special Academy project for the Department for Education (DfE) on behalf of Tees Valley Education Multi Academy Trust (TVEd) in Middlesbrough. Following Tilbury Douglas’ appointment by the DfE Construction Framework as main contractor to design and build the new academy, Howarth Litchfield was appointed by Tilbury Douglas as part of its team, to act as lead designer with responsibility for providing a broad range of additional services which include BIM, interior design and principal design duties. The planning application for the new school building, which has capacity for 84 pupils and is located on the former Nature’s World site, was approved in March 2021. Work started on site in August and completion is anticipated in March 2022, ready for the start of the academic year in September 2022/23. TVEd manages five academies – four of which are mainstream primary academies, catering for four- to 11-year-olds, including two with specialist learning units.

Cushman & Wakefield has appointed former AECOM Director Trevor Stone to lead its UK Project & Development Services (PDS) team’s activity with public sector clients. Trevor spent more than 14 years at global infrastructure consulting firm AECOM where he was a Director and Scotland Regional Lead for its Buildings and Places team. Prior to that he spent 18 years at asset management and construction consultancy Currie & Brown, where he led the Public Private Partnerships and Banking Advisory team. Joining Cushman & Wakefield with a nationwide remit, Trevor will be responsible for driving growth in public sector engagement within the PDS team, which provides services including building consultancy, building engineering, cost consultancy, project management and design and build to property owners, developers and occupiers. He will be based at the firm’s Scottish regional hub office in Edinburgh. Trevor said: “I’m excited to be joining a firm with real momentum. The team is already delivering some outstanding work within the public sector and I look forward to bringing my extensive experience and knowledge of the sector to build on this success and deliver even greater value to our clients.”

Regulation of social housing in England inquiry launched by HCLG Committee

The Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee has launched an inquiry examining the quality and regulation of social housing in England. The HCLG Committee will examine concerns about the quality of social housing, with a focus on the ability of the Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman to identify and address problems. The inquiry will also focus on the proposals in the Government’s social housing whitepaper aimed at improving the regulatory regime. Clive Betts, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, said: “Stories of dilapidated social housing and tales of housing associations failing to respond to residents’ complaints call into question the effectiveness of the existing regulatory regime and how far the Government’s whitepaper proposals go to help ensure tenants are treated properly and fairly. In our inquiry, we want to explore concerns around the quality of social housing and whether the current regime for the regulation of social housing is fit for purpose.” The committee’s inquiry will also explore the financial pressures on social housing providers, amid concerns from some that the costs of building safety work and retrofitting properties to make them more energy efficient are affecting their ability to improve the quality of their social housing stock.

Cushman & Wakefield appoints Head of Public Sector Project & Development Services

Construction consultant secures multidisciplinary role on key net-zero project

Award-winning construction and property consultancy, SummersInman, has secured a multidisciplinary role to project manage and provide quantity surveying services on a research and innovation facility, which will support the region’s ongoing drive for clean energy and sustainability. The firm’s appointment follows on from plans unveiled earlier this year by Teesside University and the Tees Valley Mayor and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to develop a new £13.5m industry-led Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre (NZIIC) to support the ongoing drive for clean energy and sustainability. Appointed by Teesside University following a competitive tender submission via the NEUPC consultants’ framework (North East Universities Purchasing Consortium), this latest appointment sees SummersInman returning to steer the Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre to completion, having begun its work on the project earlier in the year when it successfully managed the project up to RIBA Stage 3. The next primary task, from RIBA Stage 4 onwards, will be to successfully select and appoint a suitable main contractor to build the scheme and once this is done, Summers-Inman will be responsible from a cost, quality and time perspective when the scheme reaches site.

South Tyneside Coroner’s Court benefits from upgrade and refurbishment

Surgo Construction (Surgo), one of the North-East’s leading independent main contractors, has successfully handed over a key refurbishment project for South Tyneside Council. In February 2021, Surgo was appointed to extensively refurbish the Coroner’s Court and create new ancillary facilities for court staff, support services, families and clients. One of the most challenging elements of the scheme was the relocation of the council’s IT server which provides borough-wide internet services. The loss of this service was not an option and the careful planning of this aspect of the works formed a crucial element of the construction programme. The project also required Surgo to operate alongside the existing building services while installing state-of-the-art video links – a key feature of the refurbishment, given the prevailing pandemic guidelines around social distancing at the time – so that cases could still be conducted and caseload backlogs minimised. Senior Coroner, Terence Carney, says that the upgraded facilities were essential to ensure his team could efficiently conduct its work, alongside the Northumbria Police Authority, the NHS and South Tyneside Council.

New outdoor play facilities in the Bedwas and Trethomas areas of Caerphilly are already proving to be a hit with children and young people. The children’s play area at Bryn Park received new equipment, as well as the installation of a multi-use games area (MUGA). The new facilities were funded as part of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) programme and thanks to an additional contribution of £20,000 from Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen Community Council. Over £260m has been invested into tenants’ homes and local communities as part of the council’s WHQS programme. This investment has included delivering a wide range of environmental improvements throughout the county borough, such as play areas, skate parks, landscaping and additional car parking. Improvements have also recently been completed at play areas in Ty Isha Terrace in Cefn Fforest, Holly Road in Ty-Sign, Cefn Road in Hengoed, Attlee Road in Blackwood, Pengam Road in Penpedairheol and Pantycelyn Street in Ystrad Mynach. A new kickwall has also been installed at Fairview, Pengam. Other play areas set to benefit from equipment upgrades include Penylan Road in Argoed and the park in Markham. Maesycwmmer’s Hill View play area will feature a new helter skelter slide.

Cardiff installs first -of-their-kind green, affordable homes New Caerphilly play facilities are a hit

Wates Residential and Cardiff Council are installing Cardiff’s first sustainable, modular homes, at a brownfield site on Crofts Street, Plasnewydd, as the council increases its provision of affordable homes for local residents on housing waiting lists and those most in need. The nine two-bedroom properties, which have been built off site using modern methods of construction (MMC), will be lowered onto their final position on site with all the groundworks and external hard and soft landscaping completed. This is the first time this method of offsite construction has been used by Cardiff Council to deliver permanent homes for families living in the city. The method not only enables the units to be built and installed in record time, but will also use the latest technology and construction materials to create net-zero carbon buildings that are 90% more energy efficient than standard homes built to current Building Regulations. They will be extremely airtight, meaning they are well insulated and residents will see huge savings on their bills. In recognition of their environmental credentials, the homes have achieved Grade A in Predicted Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact (CO2) ratings.