The London Design & Engineering UTC will be based in East Ham and is one of a new wave of government-funded colleges that combine traditional GCSEs and A Levels with specialist technical vocational qualifications. It will offer a curriculum focused on all types of engineering and construction and is designed to lead to apprenticeships through employer sponsors, which include Thames Water and Alpha Building Services Engineering.
The college will be partly based within a Grade II listed former police station, which Morgan Sindall will refurbish and convert into a mix of administration facilities and classrooms. The existing eight storey Section House will be demolished before constructing a new 4,670m2 facility on the site.
The development is expected to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’ and work is expected to complete on the project in the winter of 2015. The project team includes: architect Scott Brown Rigg; structural engineer Campbell Reith; M&E engineers Chapman BDSP; and technical advisor Mott MacDonald.
Thames Water head of corporate responsibility Helen Newman, who is chair of the UTC steering group, said: “Morgan Sindall was selected to undertake the design and construction work on the strength of their proposals for the site, which is not without its difficulties. We look forward to seeing those proposals come to fruition.”
Morgan Sindall regional managing director for construction Tony Dixon said: “We already have a number of projects on the ground in this part of London and the UTC scheme will provide us with further opportunities to employ people from the area, including apprentices.”
Morgan Sindall is currently expanding and upgrading nine schools for the London Borough of Newham through the iESE framework.
The London Design & Engineering UTC was procured for the Education Funding Agency through the LHC Schools and Community Services (SCB1) framework arrangement. LHC is a public sector purchasing consortium.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
