BAM to build £11 million UTC in Devon
Hemel Hempstead, 29 May 2014 - BAM Construction is to build an £11 million university technical college on a challenging site in Newton Abbot. The contractor, which has offices in Exeter, will create South Devon UTC on a split level former garage site. BAM will demolish existing buildings as well as remediating the Kingsteignton Road site, which has asbestos and hydro carbon contamination to be cleaned up. It will then build a four-storey facility to be used by 600 pupils and 75 staff.
The UTC will specialise in water, engineering and the environment, with open-plan learning spaces and technical workshops. A full-height atrium will be used as an entrance hall, while the outside will feature space for a multi-use games area as well as dining terraces. A retaining wall divides the site in two, with one section 4m higher than the other. A basement will be located on the lower land, and be used to house building services plant.
BAM Construction Western is an accredited national skills academy for construction, and will be using the project to give opportunities to young people, working alongside UTC sponsor South Devon college. BAM will also provide sustainability features as learning tools, including water butts and water-saving toilets with see-through panels at the back all of which will aid learning in the UTC. The contractor won the right to negotiate a deal on South Devon UTC when it was awarded Swindon UTC last year. The projects are often given out in batches through the Education Funding Agency’s contractors framework.
Work on South Devon UTC is due to begin in June 2014 and be completed for use in January 2016.
BAM construction director Graham Kingdon said: ‘We are delighted to have been be appointed preferred bidder for this important facility for Devon, and have enjoyed working with the UTC team to develop the scheme over the previous months. We look forward to starting the work on site to create a modern, user-friendly facility for students and staff. As always, BAM is intent on making this scheme work for the local economy and community as well as for the end users.’
BAM Construction Western won the runner up award in the Considerate Constructors Scheme’s hunt for the most considerate site nationally in 2011 for its work on Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum, which was the UK’s museum of the year in 2012.
The contractor is also known locally for a number of major schemes in Plymouth: Marine academy; All Saints Academy; the Roland Levinsky Building at Plymouth University; Plymouth UTC; and the Theatre Royal.