Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson has handed over construction works for the £3.9m expansion and renovation of King Edward VI School in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Delivered on behalf of Staffordshire County Council, under the Staffordshire Construction framework, the works comprised of an extension to an existing building and the construction of a new modular building for the school. Construction works at the co-educational comprehensive began in May 2020, and the extension and refurbishment will now allow the school, which takes on pupils aged 11 to 18, to increase its intake by 30 places a year, providing an additional 150 places in total. The new three-storey extension, which was phase one of the works, was constructed on the site of a former swimming pool that had been closed for over ten years. It now houses enhanced teaching and auxiliary spaces, as well as an administration area on the lower ground floor that features a new student services area. Phase two, which completed in October last year, involved the installation of a brand new standalone modern modular structure to provide enhanced science laboratory teaching facilities, which replaced existing accommodation and obsolete prefabricated buildings at the site. Due to the scheme being completed by the contractor on time and to budget, G F Tomlinson was awarded further refurbishment works at the school, which included window replacements in the main hall, as well as new windows, ceilings, floors and interactive whiteboards in a number of classrooms. The contractor also provided external works as an add on to the original scheme which included new railings, fencing, outdoor steps and re-surfacing works. This is the second scheme G F Tomlinson has completed through the Staffordshire Construction framework for Staffordshire County Council, with current projects including works at Anker Valley Primary School in Tamworth, and Greenwood Healthcare Centre in Burntwood. Chris Flint, director at G F Tomlinson, said: “Completed on time and to budget, the team have been phenomenal throughout the works at King Edward VI School and have done the G F Tomlinson name proud. This has been proven through the awarding of further works at the school, which were delivered to an excellent standard. “It’s been amazing to form a strong new relationship with the school and further build on our existing relationships with Staffordshire County Council, Arc Partnership and Entrust Property Services. We’re pleased to be handing over the expansion works ahead of the new school year to allow for essential education places.” Dan Maher, managing director at Arc Partnership, commented: “The collaboration between Staffordshire County Council, G F Tomlinson, Entrust Property Services and Arc Partnership is testament to the successful delivery of the extension and new modular building at King Edward VI School.” Helen Riley, deputy CXO and director for Families and Communities at Staffordshire County Council, said: “This work has enabled King Edward VI School to expand, meaning it can meet the increase in demand in the area for secondary school places. As well as creating extra space for staff and pupils, the construction has really transformed the school, making it a bright and welcoming place for present and future pupils.” Jane Rutherford, headteacher at King Edward VI School, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the new and refurbished accommodation, the students and staff are already seeing the benefits of improved learning environments.  “It has been a complex project, but at every stage we have worked together to find the most effective way to secure the best outcome for the school. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with G F Tomlinson; the attention to detail and the consideration for the needs of the school has helped secure best value and high quality. The project team from Staffordshire County Council, Entrust and G F Tomlinson have brought long-held ambitions to life and we now have accommodation that matches the high standards of achievement at King Edward VI School.”                         Arc Partnership provided architectural and engineering services and Entrust Property Services provided project management services. Ideal Modular, part of G F Tomlinson’s existing supply chain, delivered the modular element of this project.

Proposals for a new research and development campus in Birmingham have secured the green light. The scheme is expected to create thousands of jobs upon completion and will provide a hub for healthcare and technology innovators. The hybrid application for the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) was brought forward by a long-term collaboration between the University of Birmingham, as landowner, and investor-developers Bruntwood SciTech. The application site comprises approximately 10.6 acres of brownfield land and is located adjacent to the district centre of Selly Oak, in close proximity to the University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Full planning permission was sought for phase one, which consists of a seven-storey office and research development building (building one), with an ancillary café, a temporary surface car park, as well as associated infrastructure and landscaping. Three floors of building one will be home to the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator (PHTA). This facility will be occupied by the University of Birmingham and will focus on enabling the classification of patients and their treatments. Building one has a gross internal floor area of approximately 171,000 sq ft and, in addition to being occupied by the university, will provide a hub for businesses working in medtech, biopharma, precision medicine, healthcare AI and genomics. Supporting facilities will also be provided, including meetings spaces, and a café on the ground floor. The temporary surface car park, providing 258 spaces, including six accessible spaces, five motorbike spaces, and 68 bicycle spaces, will provide parking for occupiers of building one, as well as accommodate occupiers of the second phase of development. Outline planning permission was also sought for the remainder of the application site to bring forward up to a further five office and research development buildings and a multi-storey car park. A gym is also proposed in one of the buildings. The maximum provision for the multi-storey car park is 1,333 car parking spaces. The 10-year masterplan is expected to support the creation of more than 10,000 jobs and contribute £400m of GVA to the regional economy by 2030. “The proposed hybrid application will deliver a health and innovation campus that will have substantial economic benefits for the locality. In terms of both the full and outline elements, no concerns are raised in relation to highway safety, character, ecology, amenity, drainage, contamination or flood risk. The proposal constitutes sustainable development and is therefore in accordance with the aims and objectives of both local and national planning policy and should be approved,” said a Birmingham City Council document.

Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson is progressing with multi-million expansion works at Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Coventry, for Coventry City Council. The project involves the construction of a new dining hall and the refurbishment of existing buildings for optimised teaching spaces, which will allow for an additional 200 places at the school, in line with a government drive to provide extra student spaces in Coventry. Procured through Pagabo’s National Framework for Medium Works, this is the first scheme G F Tomlinson has been awarded through the framework in its allocated region, which covers projects between the value of £1m-£5m in the West Midlands.  “This will be the first project to be completed under Pagabo’s National Framework for Medium Works, and we are delighted to be partnering with this framework partner and Coventry City Council, to deliver the expansion works and essential refurbishment for the school, to cater to the government’s vision of providing extra student spaces in the city,” said Andy Sewards, managing director of G F Tomlinson. “This is a very high-quality design and build, and once complete it will bring upgraded facilities to the school, allowing optimised teaching spaces and the space for a considerable increase of student places. We look forward to handing over the project ahead of the new school year in 2021.” Expected for completion in summer 2021, the scheme involves the recently completed refurbishment of the DaVinci Building – including science rooms fitted with new laboratory furniture, a technology room, storage rooms and the relocation of the IT technician’s office to an adjacent space. The main scope of works, which is the construction of a new 400-student capacity dining hall, includes a new, fully fitted catering kitchen and toilet facilities, as well as a mezzanine upper floor to be used by the school’s sixth form students, accessed via an internal floating staircase or accessible lift. The new dining hall will overlook the existing playing field and will also feature an outdoor dining area which will consist of a new external terrace and elevated tiered seating built into an existing grass bank. Internally, there will be high-finish feature concrete columns and the ceiling will be fitted with domed roof lighting to allow natural light into the building. The current dining halls, located in the Lindisfarne and Canterbury blocks will be refurbished and transformed into three teaching blocks and a seminar room, with a new accessible entrance formed to access the existing Teaching and Learning Centre to the rear of the blocks. “It’s fantastic to see work progressing well for G F Tomlinson on what is their first appointment through our Medium Works Framework. Despite the obvious challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, G F Tomlinson has continued to operate in a safe and secure manner, ensuring the school’s extension is ready for its summer 2021 opening,” added Emma Hesbrook, regional relationship manager at Pagabo.

An event to mark the start of construction to upgrade teaching and communal facilities at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls in Birmingham took place on the 3rd February 2021. The £2.6 million project will provide enhanced gym equipment and changing rooms, an entirely new kitchen and dining area, new teaching spaces and the refurbishment of two classrooms. The changes support the expansion of pupil numbers at the school, making this area of the school fit for purpose and improving the teaching and learning experience. Seddon plans to split the construction into three different phases to complete various elements of the development. Phase one will see the partial demolition of the existing gymnasium block and the construction of new facilities including a state-of-the-art weight and exercise room. New glazed curtain walling will also be installed in the existing gym across both storeys. The first phase will also include the creation of a brand-new 415 sq. ft. dining room and kitchen with new mechanical and electrical works installed. Phase two will see the remodelling of the old kitchen and dining area into Design Technology teaching facilities, as well as work to enhance and repair the existing floors and the roof. “Education is something that should be prized by everyone and each person deserves to have the best education that can be provided. We hope that the improvements we make are used to help propel pupils to their full potential for many years to come as we add to this school’s rich history,” said John Shannon, divisional director at Seddon. During phase three, two old technology classrooms will be completely refurbished to provide the best resources possible for the teachers and pupils. The socially distanced sod-cutting event was attended by Richard Gray, projects manager at Seddon; Chris Stanton, site manager at Seddon and the schools headmistress, Amy Whittall. For the duration of the development, Seddon is working with local subcontractors, in a boost for the local economy. Work is expected to finish by November 2021. “Following our successful Selective Schools Expansion Fund bid, we are delighted to be working with Seddon to achieve the planned developments at the school site. The project will improve the facilities for all students on site; with the additional facilities, we are able to increase the number of children joining the school in Year 7 with a specific focus on increasing the number of children eligible for Pupil Premium funding who attend the school. This is a key goal for the school along with the King Edward VI Academy Trust in Birmingham and the new facilities are an integral part in helping us to achieve this.”

Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson has completed construction works on a new dual-site facility for Nottingham Trent University (NTU), which will facilitate vital research for medical devices and technology. Set across two sites, with one building located at the Boots site at the Nottingham Enterprise Zone, and the other at Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton Campus – the new Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF) will accelerate innovation, allowing university researchers to come together with organisations and clinicians to develop ideas and progress them quickly to market. G F Tomlinson was the main contractor for the site at the Boots Nottingham Enterprise Zone, which will be dedicated to the development, clinical production and commercialisation of new medical technologies, as well as providing access to laboratories, clean rooms, technologies and expertise for processing, prototype development and preparing manufacturing processes. “It’s fantastic to announce that pivotal works on this landmark specialist facility have now been completed for Nottingham Trent University. The MTIF dual-site will facilitate life-changing research in medical development and modern scientific technology, enhancing the university’s current offering. We have a rich and varied portfolio of higher education projects and the completion of this facility, further strengthens our ongoing relationship with Nottingham Trent University. G F Tomlinson is delighted to be continually supporting learning and development across the Midlands,” said Chris Flint, director at G F Tomlinson. All works at the 1,687.4m2 Boots Enterprise Zone site were designed and constructed to a BREEAM Very Good rating, with all clean rooms designed and constructed to an ISO 6 standard. To accommodate specialist equipment, including a testing machine for nitrogen and compressed air, along with an oxygen sensor and a machine for digital microscopic work, G F Tomlinson constructed an isolated slab within the Metrology Room to house the laboratory equipment, to minimise its impact on the building and its users. To co-ordinate this process, G F Tomlinson’s project delivery team engaged with Nottingham Trent University at the start of the project, which helped ensure all specialist laboratory equipment had the correct level of power, data, water and gas supply, and also worked to ascertain the location of specialist equipment to be installed, ensuring one system did not adversely affect another in terms of usage. The Clifton Campus site will concentrate on research and development, linking academics with industry for the development of medical technology. The entire project was supported by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, and the university received £9.7m in funding through its Local Growth Fund allocation. As part of the Midlands Engine, the facility is expected to become a major specialist innovation asset, supporting industry and enhancing the regional economy in the areas of life sciences and healthcare. “This is hugely exciting development for Nottingham and the wider region. MTIF will bring companies, clinicians and university researchers together to take their ideas from bench to bedside, accelerating the speed of innovation to improve patient care,” added MTIF Managing Director, Mike Hannay.