Bradford College announces appointed contractors for new build

As part of the new build agreement with Bradford College, Leeds based BAM Construction has committed to use as many local suppliers and sub contractors as possible during the two year project. The use of local workers during the construction development will be a significant source of local employment and will greatly benefit the local economy.

This follows announcements by the Office for National Statistics in April 2012 that a sharp fall in construction output was behind the UK economy returning to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012.

Jason Pink, BAM Construction project manager, said: ‘With BAM’s strong track record of building in Bradford, especially in the education sector, it’s obviously a tremendous pleasure for us to be associated with such a major regenerative project. There is a huge amount of activity planned not only with the construction of the new campus, but with the community around it, and we’re aiming to bring our brand of considerate building to bear and make a fast start for the College.’

The project will be delivered by BAM Construction North East Ltd, part of Royal BAM Group. The company is behind the construction of many contributions to the City’s landscape and is active across the world on projects such as the new NATO headquarters and behind the last FIFA world cup final stadium, Soccer City in Johannesburg. In 2011 BAM Construction was ranked 14 on the list of the top 60 Green Companies by the Sunday Times Best Green Companies.

Vice Principal of Corporate Services, Andy Welsh comments: ‘BAM Construction has a good approach to procuring subcontractors locally, with a package of measures that will allow students in the College to benefit from the project. This will include site visits for students, work experience opportunities and BAM Construction taking on new apprentices over the course of the project. There will also be opportunities for staff at Bradford College to get involved with a real life project.’

Vice Principal of Corporate Services, Andy Welsh, added: ‘We are delighted that Bradford College is playing its part in the regeneration of Bradford and kick starting the local economy.’

Following approval in May 2012 from Bradford Council Regulatory and Appeals Committee, BAM Construction will commence work in June 2012 on the new 6-storey building, which will provide an innovative and technology rich learning environment for learners.

The new 23,000 m2 building will sweep up Great Horton Road and will be built on the College’s existing city centre site (Westbrook Building) and on the site of the former Randall Well Building. It is hoped that the building will be ready by September 2014.

Adding to the regeneration of Bradford, the estimated cost of the project is £50 million and will be solely funded by the College in the form of £35 million bank loan provided by Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking and Markets and the European Investment Bank and £15 million cash reserves accumulated from past and future years up to 2013.

The new build is the second phase of Bradford College’s Accommodation Strategy. The first phase involved the development of Trinity Green Campus in 2008, a state of the art building which houses the Engineering, Construction and Sport curriculum areas. The sports facilities now feature in the London Organising Committee Pre-Games Training Camp Guide for the Olympics in 2012.

The aim of College’s Accommodation Strategy is to achieve efficiencies by reducing both the number of sites and overall quantity of space that it occupies by 33,000 m2. Currently the College occupies 11 buildings with the vast majority requiring considerable investment to either improve their physical condition or their suitability for the changing needs of the curriculum.

The College’s new build will replace the Westbrook, McMillan, Appleton and Old Buildings. The Westbrook Building will be demolished and the remaining buildings will either be sold or put to other use. The College plans to retain Lister Building, The Grove Library, Bolton Royd and Trinity Green Campus.

Bradford College Principal and Chief Executive, Michele Sutton, OBE said: ‘It’s a very exciting time to be part of Bradford College. Our new, iconic campus will revolutionise our current estate, add to the regeneration of Bradford and provide a superb student experience. Students will benefit from the bringing together of facilities and curriculum into a single location, new styles of learning which embrace cutting edge technologies, realistic work environments that will be open to the public and opportunities to showcase learning activity through open plan areas.’

Bradford College is 179 years old and is one of the largest further education College’s in the country with approximately 21,000 students. The College is also the largest provider of Higher Education in England outside of the university sector with approximately 4,000 higher education students studying on over 150 undergraduate, postgraduate and professional courses.

BAM Construction

The company is behind the construction of the Leeds Arena. Last year it handed over Culture Fusion in Bradford for the YMCA, and also built Bradford Academy.