A £34m construction project, which will benefit thousands of students, has been completed at Southampton City College this week.
Despite turbulent financial climates and multiple changes to Government funding the project has been completed as originally planned, with construction activities being delivered successfully to their target programme.
On Monday (August 2) Leadbitter Group's Senior Project Manager for the development, Clifford Kinch, handed over the building to Principal and CEO of City College this week, Lindsey Noble.
The college has been working towards its whole college development for eight years and the phase three project was successful in gaining funding from the LSC's Building Colleges for the Future fund. It forms part of City College's £48m campus redevelopment programme. The latest phase included the construction of two new buildings - The Hub and The Aspire Building - and the gutting and complete renovation of another structure, which has now become The Watts Building. Within the buildings are brand-new hair and beauty salons, a 200-seat professionally-equipped theatre, commercial restaurant and kitchen, state-of-the-art TV studio, media and radio suites, seminar rooms and 60-seat lecture theatre, engineering workshops and science and electronics labs.
Among the locally-based companies that worked together on the project were Leadbitter Group, Davis Langdon LLP, EDP Ltd, Wessex Site Inspection and Currie & Brown.
The construction phase took 107 weeks and saw 68 different trades - from bricklayers and carpenters to technical theatre specialists and media installers - work on the project. Emphasis was put on using local labour to build the new facilities in order to contribute to the South's economy. A total of 1,916 workers entered the site and of those, 68 per cent lived within 25 miles and 79 per cent lived within 50 miles.
Lindsey Noble said: "It was important for us that the construction project was beneficial not only to our students but to the local economy and the environment. Everyone from the architects to the construction and project managers took this into account. The result is that we have a set of three fantastic buildings for our staff and students that are incredibly well-built and environmentally-friendly."
Among the environmental features of the buildings are sedum roofs, natural ventilation systems, exposed structure to aid thermal performance, a combined heat and power centre and flooring made from recycled concrete and glass. The buildings are linked to a state of the art building management system. The project team has applied for BREEAM excellent status and expect to hear the results within six weeks.
Architect, Paul Duenas, from Ellis Williams Architects, said: "We first met Lindsey Noble four years ago when our designs became the preferred solution. Whilst what we have is not exactly the original big design we have stayed very close to the vision - even down to the colours of the central elliptical staircase and hub walls. It's very pleasing to see it in bricks and mortar at last."
The final design of the new facilities resulted in a price that was initially 10 per cent over the College's budget. However, Leadbitter worked with the project team to introduce a variety of solutions to bring the project back in budget—saving approximately £2 million—without compromising the design, features or functionality of the buildings.
Dave Cook, Regional Director of Leadbitter's Southern Housing & Construction Division, said: "We're particularly proud of not only the final building we've delivered, but the value we've been able to add to this project, from saving the College money to providing educational support throughout the build process that benefits current and future students."
Annette Bundy, Client Representative, added: "It's wonderful to see the vision that we all worked so hard on brought to reality, particularly the key features such as the open spaces and glass."
Project Manager, Mike Broomfield, from Currie & Brown, echoed: "Lindsey's vision was for the building to reflect the college's approach to learning - flexible use of space, open and transparent. Handing over the buildings which are full of open space and clear glass I'm confident that the original vision has been brought to life."
The buildings are now being fitted out with furniture and state-of-the-art equipment, ready for their opening at the start of the Autumn term.
To find out more visit www.southampton-city.ac.uk this week.
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