Safety
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Balfour Beatty Construction - Preferred bidder for major school refurbishment
SUNDERLAND City Council has named Balfour
Beatty Construction the preferred bidder to rebuild and
refurbish six schools as part of the city’s flagship Building
Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
The £120 million initiative, which will transform the face of
education in Sunderland by creating 21st century buildings and a
cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, will see the launch of a new
partnership between the council, key stakeholders and Balfour
Beatty Construction.
Following months of detailed financial and technical scrutiny,
Balfour Beatty Construction has been selected to undertake the
£100 million design and build of the first phase of the BSF
project; the largest single capital investment Sunderland’s
education system has seen.
Sunderland’s BSF stakeholders, including academy lead sponsors
and school governors, teachers and pupils, played an important
role in the selection process and will continue to be consulted
as the designs are finalised over the coming weeks.
Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Bob Symonds, said:
“We are thrilled to have reached this crucial landmark and
cannot wait to see the final designs of these pioneering schools
and academies. The bids received were of very high quality but
Balfour Beatty Construction really stood out from the crowd as
its designs not only looked iconic but addressed, head on, our
educational vision and commitment to sustainability. From here,
there will be a big emphasis on getting parents and pupils
involved in developing the plans for the new facilities, making
them a central part of local communities.”
Balfour Beatty Construction, the new-build and refurbishment
business of Balfour Beatty plc has a turnover of around £600
million and is one of the most respected construction companies
in the UK. Its priorities are to build safely, to build
environmental awareness, to build trust and to build long-term
relationships with its customers.
Balfour Beatty Construction Framework Director for BSF, Barry
Eaton, said: "We are very happy to be working with Sunderland
City Council and its academy sponsors to deliver their combined
vision to create a first-class learning environment. We seek to
benefit the community in which we operate, not only through our
work but also engaging positively and helping deliver additional
social benefits."
Closing in August 2008, Pennywell Secondary School and Quarry
View Primary School will operate as one all-age academy from
existing buildings for 12 months. During this time, the new
Gentoo Group-sponsored academy will be built on the Pennywell
site and will open its doors in September 2009.
Castle View Secondary School and Hylton Red House School will
close one year later, in August 2009, to re-open as two separate
academies in September 2009 sponsored by Northumbrian Water and
Leighton Group respectively; both will be largely new build with
some refurbishment.
Washington Secondary School will be completely rebuilt and
Biddick School Sports College and St Robert of Newminster RC
Secondary School are both set to be refurbished by September
2009, while Sandhill View Secondary School will receive an ICT
revamp.
Gentoo Group Chief Executive, Peter Walls, said: "This is a
tremendous opportunity for the local community in and around
Pennywell particularly for its future generations. It is now
full steam ahead to open the academy in September 2008 and the
new building in 2009."
John Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northumbrian Water,
commented: “Northumbrian Water is delighted to reach this
milestone in the progress to build the new academy at Castle
View. We can now move on to build an exciting academy for
current and future students in Sunderland. It will challenge
them to succeed, but also allow them to fulfil their potential
and build a sense of pride in all of the community.”
Paul Callaghan, Chairman of the Leighton Group, added: “We are
very pleased to have reached this stage in the process and it
has been the result of a real partnership effort with ourselves
and the other sponsors working closely with Sunderland City
Council. I am looking forward to agreeing the final details of
the construction of the new academy and seeing the final
designs.”
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools (PfS),
congratulated Sunderland on reaching this important decision,
and said: “I look forward to seeing the new school buildings and
innovative facilities that will arise from this partnership.
They will bring huge benefits for the school children of
Sunderland, both now and for years to come, and will make a
great contribution to the overall success of the national BSF
programme, which is improving learning environments in thousands
of schools across England.”
Once the contracts are finalised in March 2008, building work
will begin. The first buildings will welcome pupils and staff in
September 2009 and the last schools of the project will be
completed in December 2009.
Email:
peter@prman.org.uk