BAM to convert police station into UTC

BAM will demolish a custody suite on the site and convert a garage into a training facility for pupils. Two existing three-storey office buildings will be reconfigured and converted into teaching space.

BAM will also build a new facility containing an entrance hall, a café, a restaurant and a lecture theatre. The UTC will hold 600 pupils aged from 14-19 and will specialise in science and engineering in the context of the defence and protective science industries. Work is commencing on site now, with completion later next later. Local suppliers will be used where possible.

South Wiltshire UTC's Principal Designate Gordon Aitken said: ‘Applications are already flooding in for the UTC, which will open in September 2015, and students are impressed with the vision of a modern learning environment created out of this fine old Salisbury landmark.’

BAM construction director Neil Dorrington said: ‘We are very excited about this project converting a police premises into a very different but equally important facility for the community in South Wiltshire, Hampshire and North Dorset. There will be significant internal alterations to the buildings as well as dynamic new elements to ensure pupils have a modern, user-friendly space to learn. BAM will work hard to ensure the local economy and environment benefit during the construction stage as well as from the finished product.’

The architects are AHR.

The contractor secured Swindon UTC last year, which was batched with the South Wiltshire UTC scheme. It has also been selected to build South Devon UTC in Newton Abbot. It has numerous projects across the south west of England including the complex Living Systems Institute for the University of Exeter. BAM is behind 16 UTC projects.

To find out more about South Wiltshire UTC visit www.wiltshire-utc.co.uk.

Further information: Mark Slattery, press and media manager, BAM Construct UK Ltd, 01442 238415.