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NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATES

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

Regional construction firm to create music recording facility at Durham University

Sendrig is delivering a new, innovative music recording facility at Durham University’s Collingwood College site. The iconic singlestorey, new-build project, which started on site in June 2021, will further enhance the campus at Durham University, part of a series of regeneration projects to improve student experience and encourage a return to collegiate life post-pandemic. The project, which was won through the NEUPC (North East University Procurement Framework), is due to complete in July 2022, ready for the 2022-23 cohort to start in September. Constructed on an existing car park, the building will create more space and flexibility for music performance, consisting of a new, custom music recording studio, complete with a live room, drum booth, vocal studio, circulation/breakout space and practice rooms. Divided into three sections – recording, social and practice – the layout has been designed to eradicate disruption to the recording studio from the practice rooms and will also include photovoltaic panels to the roof. Sendrig, which is headquartered in Jesmond and has a satellite unit in Team Valley, will operate as the main contractor in a team that also includes GSS architects, Link MEP Consulting Engineers and Jasper Kerr Structural Engineers.

Just days after being named as the best in the UK, a housing development in Rother has announced the contractor who will build the housing scheme. Blackfriars in Battle, an initiative led by Rother District Council’s housing company, Alliance Homes, to provide 200 new homes, has named Wates Residential – part of the Wates Group – as the partner contractor to build the development. The construction project – which includes the provision of 42 affordable, rented homes and 28 homes for shared ownership – is due to begin in early 2022. The contractor announcement is the second major boost for the project in just a matter of days. Earlier this month, Blackfriars was named best housing development in the UK (suburban and rural category) at the Inside Housing Development Awards. All new homes have been designed to significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, whilst minimising energy costs for residents. The site will see the unique use of Earth-Sheltered Homes and inclusion of principles taken from Passivhaus – a building standard that is energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. A £270m development proposal to transform the former International Swimming Pool site at Lisbon Street in Leeds city centre has been granted full planning consent by Leeds City Council. The 2.8-acre strategic site, which has been used as a car park since the pool’s demolition in 2009, has been the subject of much scrutiny around its development potential due to its gateway location. DLA Architecture has designed the much-anticipated landmark development on behalf of Lisbon Street Developments, a joint-venture partnership between Marrico Asset Management and Helios Real Estate. Plans for Lisbon Street include two BTR residential towers of 33 and 22 storeys, offering 629 apartments, a 24-storey student accommodation building with 548 bed spaces, a 15-storey, 120 key aparthotel with 22,000ft2 of co-working office space and 131,000ft2 of Grade A office accommodation, along with further retail and leisure provisions. Construction is ear-marked to commence in spring this year.

Tetra Tech has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Construction Professional Services framework (RM6165). CCS supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. The framework, which has a potential spend of £1.7bn, will cover multi-discipline, project management, architectural, cost management, civil and structural engineering, building services engineering and environmental services. Tetra Tech has won a place on all six lots of the new four-year agreement – the only consultancy to do so. The lots, divided by project type and worth between £75m and £577.5m respectively, include: Lot 1 – Built Environment & General Infrastructure; Lot 2 – Urban Regeneration; Lot 3 – International; Lot 4 – High Rise; Lot 5 – Defence; and Lot 6 – Environment & Sustainability technical services. It replaces CCS’s previous Project Management and Full Design Team Services framework (RM3741), which Tetra Tech was a named supplier for three of its six lots – multidisciplinary services, civil and structural engineering services, and building services engineering.

Wates and Rother District Council to build 200 affordable eco EarthSheltered Homes Developers secure green light to deliver new landmark for Leeds’ international pool site

Tetra Tech wins all six lots on £1.7bn CCS framework

Multi-million-pound leisure complex receives RIBA Suffolk award

Riverside Leisure Centre, a cutting-edge and energy-efficient complex in Chelmsford, has received a RIBA Suffolk award in the Sport and Leisure category. The awards aim to celebrate the best architecture in the East of England. Independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard delivered all design and cost services for the flagship scheme, which was completed in June 2019. The original building, built in the 1960s, was completely redeveloped and is now both cost- and energy-efficient having been awarded a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ sustainability rating. Keith Prendergast, National Director at Pick Everard, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have received this RIBA award, and to have designed a building that provides an impressive gateway to the city centre and delivers a greener legacy for the entire community to enjoy for years to come.” The 25m facility provides a 10-lane swimming pool with a moveable floor, a toddler-friendly sensory splash zone and fun pool with flume, a 130-station gym, health and fitness studios, an Ofstedregistered creche, soft play facility, fully accessible changing rooms, a spacious reception foyer and an airy cafe with terrace overlooking the River Chelmer. It also has space for 80 bicycles, in a bid to encourage greener methods of travel to the centre.

National contractor Novus Property Solutions has extended its winning streak with a £9m contract to provide cyclical decorations and pre-decoration repairs to thousands of homes owned by regional housing association Bromford. The contract covers Bromford’s homes in the West Midlands, Shropshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. In total, Novus will undertake repairs and redecorations for up to 21,000 social and affordable properties. Novus secured the contract through its flagship ‘Maintain’ service following a competitive bid process, during which the Stoke-on-Trent-based business scored particularly highly on its customer care and communication proposition, and its social value and corporate social responsibility – two areas Novus prizes very highly and has placed great importance on both internally and externally for a number of years. The repair and decoration services commenced on Bromford’s housing stock in November, with the contract in place for the next six years with the option to extend for a further two years. MMC healthcare specialist, MTX, is celebrating having been awarded its latest project win at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust. The brand-new, two-storey 1958ft2 building will house the hospital’s endoscopy facility. Preparatory groundwork is underway and it is due to open to patients in spring 2022, subject to planning permission. This is MTX’s second project with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, having previously delivered an A&E extension and additional office space. Through modern methods of construction, the project will support the trust’s requirements for limited disruption and speed of delivery, allowing the hospital to operate throughout the works taking place. Nichola Hunter, Associate Director of Estates and Facilities at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re pleased to be working with MTX on a new state-of-the-art endoscopy unit. It is one of a number of important projects underway as we invest in modernising our hospital to further improve the experience of our patients, their families and staff.”

Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated a major milestone in the construction of a new day treatment centre at Evelina London Children’s Hospital with an official ‘topping out’ ceremony. The event, which was attended by Florence Eshalomi MP, was held on the roof of the new, building, where the MP for Vauxhall and staff working on the project signed the steel frame. The construction tradition signifies the completion of the structure of a new building. The new five-storey multi-use building will house a family-friendly space with everything required for children’s day surgery. There will be two new operating theatres to treat an additional 2300 children per year. This will also free up space in existing operating theatres for more complex cases requiring specialist care and overnight stays on a ward. The centre will boast the latest equipment and child-focused technology to help families with all aspects of their care. Families will wait less time on the day of surgery as pre-surgery checks, operation, recovery and preparation for going home can all be done in one place, in one day.

Super Novus scores again with £9m Bromford contract win MTX awarded latest expansion project at Queen Elizabeth Hospital