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NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATES

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

Academy completion brings 1150 new pupil places to Birmingham Groundbreaking eco leisure facility plans approved

More than 1000 new school places have been created in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, thanks to the completion of a brand-new secondary academy school. Christ Church, Church of England, Secondary Academy, which is due to welcome pupils this month, has been built by the Department for Education (DfE) to create an additional 1150 school places for the region. Designed by architecture firm CPMG Architects and delivered by contractor Willmott Dixon, the new £19m, three-storey school includes facilities to accommodate 900 secondarylevel pupils, and a further 250 students in the sixth form. The new building comprises a pick-up and drop-off area for pupils, a sports hall, two full-size football pitches and one FA-standard 3G pitch. Traditional materials have been used in a contemporary manner to create a clean and simple aesthetic, whilst providing robustness and ease of maintenance, including a concrete raft ground floor, traditional brick and block wall construction with a feature of render and facade cladding to express the academy’s identity. Sara Harraway, Director at CPMG Architects, said: “We worked very closely with the school while developing the design, establishing a design concept based around the trust’s values and the school’s branding. This has seen the introduction of a neutral colour palette, interspersed with bursts of signature blue and yellow feature elements.”

Beard starts work on St John’s College historic library refurbishment

A revolutionary eco-friendly leisure centre, which is on track to be one of the first wet and dry Passivhaus-certified leisure centres in the world, has been given the go-ahead after designs submitted by sports and leisure expert GT3 Architects and Passivhaus designer Gale & Snowden were approved. Located in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, the groundbreaking leisure facility has been designed with sustainability and wellbeing at its core. As a result, GT3 and Gale & Snowden Architects are also working closely with national governing bodies, including Sport England, around the lessons learnt and the data coming out of this facility with a view to providing documentation around what is needed to create Passivhaus and healthy buildings within the leisure industry. The building also features a wide range of modern facilities, including rooftop 3G sports pitches, competitive, learner and splash swimming pools, mini spa, sports hall, gym and flexible studio space, soft play, Clip ‘n Climb, cafe with poolside viewing and more. Mark Gowdridge, Director at GT3 Architects, said: “We’re delighted that the plans have been given the green light and we’re able to start taking this fantastic project forwards. Sustainability defines the design on this project and a Passivhaus-certified design will result in energy and cost savings of up to 60%, which is a huge cost reduction over the building’s lifecycle.”

TopHat secures place on Building Better framework

Oxford-based construction firm Beard is set to start work on the third and final phase of a major refurbishment of a historic library, within the grounds of one of the UK’s most important architectural sites. The family-run firm, which specialises in the education sector, will be on site at St John’s College, Oxford, to start work on the £10m project to refurbish the Old Library and Laudian Library located in the Canterbury Quadrangle. The site is not only world famous as a seat of learning but also Grade 1 Listed as it is one of the few remaining examples in the UK of the High Baroque architectural style, dating back to the early 17th century. Beard was appointed due to the quality of work and faultless delivery for phase one of the project, and its track record in the wider education sector. The final phase of work is expected to be finished by early 2023 and consists of refurbishment of the college’s existing Laudian Library and Old Library, with remodelling of an area known as the Paddy Room under the Old Library. The Paddy Room area underwent a refurbishment in the 1970s, which will be removed as part of the new work, to reinstate the rooms that existed previously. Goldman Sachs-backed modular housing firm TopHat has secured a place on the Building Better framework. The Building Better framework, supported by the National Housing Federation and delivered by Procurement for Housing, is a strategic alliance of housing associations working together to realise the benefits of offsite manufacturing. TopHat has secured ‘Lot 1’ of the framework and will deliver homes under its ‘turnkey’ solution – whereby TopHat will undertake the groundwork, develop the site and deliver the homes from its factory in South Derbyshire where they are manufactured along production lines. The framework is designed to provide members with access to a single provider, in this case, TopHat, capable of supplying a full range of housing and apartment solutions through a variety of delivery methods, ranging from supply only to full turnkey provision. The Building Better framework comes as housing associations move away from traditional housebuilding and towards modern methods of construction that can deliver homes in half the time and are up to 70% more sustainable.

The Input Group boosts travel and leisure with six completed schemes

The Input Group is celebrating the completion of six developments across the Midlands and Yorkshire – including Sheffield, Castleford and Market Harborough railway stations, Sheffield Meadowhall Interchange and two new Orangetheory Fitness studios – helping to bolster the hard-hit leisure and travel sectors. The projects, which are part of the specialist contractor’s large portfolio of leisure and transport projects across the region, required a range of installation works to create and improve public facilities. Chris Monk, Managing Director at The Input Group, said: “As a Derby-based business, we have a lot of links to the region, so we find it really fulfilling when we complete projects in the Midlands and surrounding areas that help to support and grow the local economy. Both the travel and leisure sectors are industries that suffered throughout the pandemic, so helping to create and improve facilities that encourage public spend to re-boost these industries is incredibly important to The Input Group.”

Health sector boost for Triton Construction

Triton Construction has completed four healthcare projects with a total contract value of £3m over the last 12 months as it reports strong growth within the sector. Its portfolio of health and social care projects account for 14% of turnover for the financial year to March 2021 and that is projected to rise to 20% in the current financial year. Paul Clarkson, Managing Director at Triton Construction, said: “We are pleased to continue our successful record in securing great projects across all areas of the health sector for which we offer full turnkey solutions in construction, fit-out and external works. Considerable investment continues to be made to improve healthcare facilities nationwide and our expertise and credentials continue to deliver a strong pipeline of projects in a core sector for Triton.” Triton has recently handed over a new £1.1m state-ofthe-art medical centre and pharmacy at The Globe, a historic mill building in Huddersfield. It has just completed internal refurbishment works for NHS PS Tarleton Health Centre in Preston, as well as a programme of phased extensions and refurbishment of the Bangor Street Health Resource Centre in Blackburn, to allow the merger of two practices and double its patient capacity.

Wates launches new healthcare team as it drives future expansion

The Wates Group has announced the appointment of a new senior team focused on expanding the group’s work in healthcare construction. The team will be headed by Simon Kydd. He will be joined by Bonnie Chu as Healthcare Design Director and Scott Machin as Healthcare Bid Manager. The team, which will report to Group Public Sector Director Steve Beechey, will be joined by a framework manager to be announced soon. The family-owned construction, property services and residential development business is experienced in delivering specialised projects in the healthcare sector, with recently-completed projects including the £79.9m renovation of the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons in London; a 72-bed mental health facility, Foss Park Hospital, for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; world-leading clinical facilities at the Quadram Institute in Norwich; and a 176-bed Intensive Care Unit for the Royal London Hospital, completed last year in just five weeks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for St Barts NHS Hospital Trust. With its unique integrated offer, combining the engineering expertise of its Coventry-based offsite manufacturing facility, Prism, coupled with its construction, property management and refurbishment businesses, Wates is focused on addressing some of the key challenges facing the healthcare sector.

Morgan Sindall Construction builds on sustainability commitment

Work has started on the ambitious £13.5m regeneration of Leicester’s St Margaret’s bus station and its surrounding streets, which will provide greener travel for the area. Morgan Sindall Construction was appointed by Leicester City Council to create a striking new building to replace the old bus station and create more attractive routes for pedestrians and cyclists as part of a major scheme to revamp the city centre. The initial stages of construction work on the new St Margaret’s Bus Station are now underway. The new bus station building will have glazed walls and feature a curved aluminium roof that appears to float above the main concourse hall. Bus passengers will benefit from a completely redesigned and improved internal layout with a new cafe, better seating, modern toilets complete with a new Changing Places accessible toilet, and real-time digital passenger information. There will also be increased capacity for national and regional bus services, with the number of bays increased from 18 to 24. Richard Frape, Project Director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “The new station will make a real impact on the lives of people in Leicester. It will improve commutes while also creating better transport connections with other parts of the UK; all whilst reducing carbon emissions through the use of electric buses.”