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NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATES

Each month PSBJ rounds up the latest public sector construction updates, from new contracts to industry awards.

Waltham Forest Town Hall regeneration to bring community benefits

Waltham Forest Council’s development partner, Countryside, has secured planning permission to move forward with the transformation of the town hall campus to create a brand-new neighbourhood and cultural hub in the heart of the borough, completing the council’s vision of a distinct, welcoming civic space and a 365-day-a-year cultural venue. The development will continue to build on the success of the first phase of works that completed in July 2021 seeing the historic Grade II Listed town hall fully refurbished and the creation of Fellowship Square and state-of-theart water feature, which has been hugely popular with residents and visitors, hosting a series of free summer events and activities, and sees hundreds of visitors each day. The transformation will drive economic recovery in the borough and bring hundreds of new jobs to the area, including over 600 during construction and over 800 supply chain jobs, as well as nearly approximately 160 additional jobs from new commercial and community uses. There will also be a programme for schools and colleges to visit and learn about apprenticeships and training opportunities.

Offsite construction specialist Darwin Group is due to start work on one of the UK’s first modular education buildings to achieve both Passivhaus and net-zero carbon certification. The new 631m2 teaching block for St Edward’s school, in Romsey, Southampton, will include six classrooms, group learning areas and a sensory room. As advocates of sustainability, Darwin Group presented the opportunity to support the school in its carbon reduction commitments by designing a net-zero building. The use of modern methods of construction techniques will also ensure minimal waste from the build. The Darwin Group team is working closely with the school to achieve the benefits of a passivhaus building. This is an energy-efficient design standard that provides an almostconstant temperature. This will ensure a comfortable and healthy learning environment, while minimising the energy demand of the building, significantly lowering the school’s operational costs. The 20-week programme will see Darwin Group design every element of the school block, including the completion of surveys and a planning application. The construction phase is then expected to be delivered within 18.5 weeks. National residential and commercial developer Godwin Developments has submitted outline plans for the creation of up to 50 new family homes on land south of Ashby Road Central, in the Leicestershire town of Shepshed. The proposed scheme, which will be a mixture of house types, is situated on a vacant site next to the established community on Crowson Close and is allocated for housing in the emerging Charnwood Borough Council Local Plan. When built, the development will contribute towards the delivery of much-needed, good-quality family homes in the area, including affordable housing. It will provide parking for residents and cycle storage for every dwelling, as well as private gardens and attractive house frontages. The development is advantageously positioned along the main arterial route into Shepshed with a range of amenities – including local primary and secondary schools, shops, recreational facilities, a wide range of other services and local employment nearby. It lies just over half a mile from junction 23 of the M1 motorway and approximately three miles from Loughborough, the principal settlement in the borough of Charnwood.

SCAPE, one of the UK’s leading public sector procurement authorities, has appointed Rachel Sudlow as its R&D lead in a newly-created role designed to increase digital innovation across public sector construction. Rachel joins SCAPE following more than 10 years at Balfour Beatty, where she started as a Quantity Surveyor but was most recently focused on innovation and research, working with bodies such as Innovate UK to drive improved digital standards in the construction industry. The new role will see Rachel work closely with SCAPE’s clients and delivery partners to develop, encourage and apply new technologies and building methods to create more innovative, sustainable buildings. Rachel will also collaborate with various private and public sector partners outside of the construction industry, including funding bodies, research institutions and academia, as it continues to help shape the public sector’s response to the climate emergency.

Darwin Group appointed to deliver net-zero modular teaching block Godwin Developments submits outline plans for new homes in Shepshed

SCAPE appoints R&D lead to boost innovation in public sector construction

Farrells, Gbolade Design Studio and Exterior Architecture appointed to London project

Southwark Council has appointed Farrells, Gbolade Design Studio and Exterior Architecture as the team of multi-disciplinary consultants that will prepare a design code for the area around Hatcham and Ilderton Road on Old Kent Road, Southwark. The project forms part of the Government’s National Model Design Code (NMDC) pilot and is the only one of its kind trialled on a site in London. The scheme will also provide an additional level of design guidance for the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan and is intended to be read as part of that plan helping to secure its delivery. Working with the team, as well as Momentum Transport Consultancy and Savills who will provide specialist advice, Farrells will produce a guide for the future development of a number of mixed-use, residential and industrial schemes that deliver on the principles outlined in the Draft Old Kent Road Area Action Plan and the NMDC, such as ensuring that schemes are locally-led and fit in with local character, through placing more emphasis on community engagement and design elements such as street character, building type and facade, as well as the design fit-out and specification of industrial space.

Property, construction and infrastructure consultancy, Perfect Circle, has been appointed by Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) to provide project management, cost management and CDM advice services on a once-in-a-generation transformation of the former Machynlleth Union Workhouse – currently operating as Bro Ddyfi Community Hospital. The £15m project will see contractor Willmott Dixon deliver an integrated health and wellbeing centre in collaboration with Perfect Circle via SCAPE Consultancy, a direct award framework that drives collaboration, efficiency, time and cost savings. Victoria Brambini, Managing Director of Perfect Circle, said: “We are delighted to be overseeing the regeneration of the Bro Ddyfi Community Hospital, with all of its wonderful heritage. Originally built in 1860, it has since served several purposes, including a WWII Red Cross auxiliary hospital and the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Much of our work will involve breathing new life into the historic building, restoring it as an important asset to the local community.” The £15m relocation of the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre from Glenfield Hospital to its new city-centre home at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) has now completed. National independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy, Pick Everard has worked in close cooperation with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to co-locate children’s congenital heart services in the region within a state-of-the-art setting. The relocation has taken place over three phases of construction, with the first and largest element being a new-build extension to the Kensington Building to house the cardiac outpatient’s department, new cardiac theatre and new hybrid catheter lab. This extension is an innovative three-storey modular design including a basement level and is designed to achieve BREEAM ‘Very Good’ certification. Pick Everard provided principal designer services for all works, and electrical and mechanical design services for the PICU and cardiac ward.

A state-of-the-art, £10.5m new health centre will be built in the Peak District town of Bakewell after unanimous planning approval was secured. Designed and submitted by Sheffield-based architectural practice, Race Cottam Associates (RCA), the 16,000ft2 new centre is expected to provide healthcare services for approximately 5000 people. Set to be shared between Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), Bakewell’s new healthcare hub has been designed as a multipurpose, accessible building. It will feature a new clinic, treatment and waiting areas, administration offices, dedicated staff and client parking, and also house a number of existing services including mental health, children’s services, speech and language services, podiatry and physiotherapy. RCA’s approved design was carefully considered to reflect the area’s heritage and ensure the health centre’s modern aesthetic would not detract from the neighbouring, Grade II Listed Newholme Hospital frontage, which is being retained. Extensive study of the Peak Park Design Guide also helped shape the overall design, which includes a collection of long strip buildings with traditional gable-end features.

Historic workhouse to be transformed into community health and wellbeing hub Unanimous approval for £10.5m Peak District health centre

Pick Everard completes East Midlands heart services relocation