The operating and patient recovery facilities at a private hospital in Bath are undergoing a major refurbishment by Beard Construction. The five-phase project will see three operating theatres at Circle Health Group’s Bath Clinic revamped and a fourth created from an existing endoscopy suite. The associated patient recovery and anaesthetic
A state-of-the-art faience-tiled dining hall has been completed at University of Cambridge’s Homerton College. The new building has a capacity of up to 336 and heating designed to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 40%. Ingleton Wood, a Cambridge-based property and construction consultancy, was appointed as Project Manager and Principal Designer
Construction works have been completed on a new first school on the Bramshall Meadows estate on Ivinson Way in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Midlands-based main contractor G F Tomlinson has been leading the construction of the school since works started on the 12,000 sq. metre site last year. The school will offer
Contractor G F Tomlinson has completed construction work on a new first school on the Bramshall Meadows estate on Ivinson Way in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. The new school will offer pupils 12,000 sq. metres of space, as well as nursery placements. Completed through Staffordshire County Council’s Capital Framework, the £4.3 million
Contractor Henry Brothers has handed over a new extension at Glossopdale School to Derbyshire County Council. The £4million extension is the second phase of the Council’s plan to increase capacity at the school, which can now take up to 1,440 pupils. The new space will provide an additional nine teaching
Work has commenced at a new all-through school in Abergavenny, with Morgan Sindall Construction being appointed as contractor for the project. Councillors were faced with the plans earlier this year when the existing comprehensive school’s building was considered for replacement. The project is part of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities
A topping out ceremony has taken place to celebrate the latest milestone in the creation of a £9 million sustainable pavilion, being built by Henry Brothers, to expand SportPark, the multi award-winning development at Loughborough University. The 2000 sq m project on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) is
THE education sector is well versed in procuring built environment work. However, current market constraints, the latest statistics on the level of work needed across school estates and the lack of associated funding means that it will not be an easy road for many. Emma Hesbrook, regional manager at national
Bouygues UK has handed over the Translational Research Hub to Cardiff University, marking the completion of its work on the Cardiff Innovation Campus. The Translational Research Hub (TRH) will house two world-leading scientific research establishments; the Institute for Compound Semiconductors and Cardiff Catalysis Institute. “Handing over the Translational Research Hub to our valued client Cardiff University
Leading Midlands contractor, G F Tomlinson, has completed works to construct a new medical physics bunker at the University of Birmingham, which is due to house the UK’s first High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility. The new bunker is located at the university’s Edgbaston Campus, on the site of the Physics
The operating and patient recovery facilities at a private hospital in Bath are undergoing a major refurbishment by Beard Construction. The five-phase project will see three operating theatres at Circle Health Group’s Bath Clinic revamped and a fourth created from an existing endoscopy suite. The associated patient recovery and anaesthetic rooms will also be transformed, alongside new staff changing and toilet areas and the installation in a new roof of the significant new infrastructure needed to power and operate the state-of-the-art equipment in the new facilities. The challenges of the £3.5m refurbishment are calling upon Beard’s extensive experience of working on medical developments. Three of the four operating theatres will always remain in use while the work is undertaken and the entire project will take place alongside the clinical environment of the hospital – with minimum disruption to the on-going, 24/7 patient services. Beard is also pulling together and managing a range of expert sub-contractors providing specialist equipment including medical gas supplies, surgeons panels, hospital building management system panels and nurse-call systems. The work is on track to be completed by July 2023. Three of the theatres sit in the basement of a two-storey building with patient recovery facilities on the floor above. Beard has re-felted, insulated and re-purposed the crinkle-tin roof above this building to hold the new infrastructure needed to run the operating theatres and recovery areas below. This roof area will also house new a standalone air-heating unit as well as parallel unique and isolated power supplies. The installation will include several 300-tonne crane lifts, as the control systems are lowered into place above the patient recovery areas. The project is currently in phase one, with phase zero seeing the roof conversion and installation of system infrastructure and the stand-alone endoscopy unit converted to a fully-fledged operating theatre. The remaining four phases will now work through the conversion of the existing three operating theatres. Beard Swindon director Jamie Harwood said: “Beard’s commitment to minimising the impact of our work on the local environment has already been taken to new levels on this project. “To carry out this extensive refurbishment alongside or above a working, clinical environment is exceptionally challenging. But we’re working with the hospital staff and our sub-contractors to make it happen. “The final product will transform the operating environment and facilities for patients and staff at Bath Clinic.” A spokesperson for Circle Health Group said: “The refurbishment work taking place at Bath Clinic is making good on our promise to offer our patients the very best facilities and services. As the hospital enters its 40th year treating and serving the community, this investment project is a commitment to continuing to deliver outstanding care to patients in Bath and further afield for another 40 years.”
A state-of-the-art faience-tiled dining hall has been completed at University of Cambridge’s Homerton College. The new building has a capacity of up to 336 and heating designed to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 40%. Ingleton Wood, a Cambridge-based property and construction consultancy, was appointed as Project Manager and Principal Designer for the two-year project. The project comprised a dining hall, buttery, kitchens and other staff amenities, and provides daily dining facilities as well as a formal venue for evening events. A balcony located in the buttery offers students an alternative setting for socialising or quiet study. The hall has been designed and detailed robustly for a minimum 100-year lifespan, applying a set of sustainability standards that exceed best practice. It is all-electric and passively ventilated, with a ground source heat pump that reduces CO2 emissions from heating and hot water by approximately 40%. Nick Bryant, Project Manager at Ingleton Wood, said: “Homerton College has been a client of ours for many years, and we were delighted to utilise our extensive experience within the campus to support this project. “In 2014 we prepared an overall College Masterplan which identified the Dining Hall’s construction as one phase of the implementation process. We have worked with the College and contractors to carry out all of the previous phases, including new post-graduate accommodation, refurbishment of the Queens Wing building, a new college bar, the provision of new guest bedrooms, an auditorium and music practice rooms.” Previously the College’s dining facilities were housed in its historical buildings, but additional capacity and modernisation were required. The new build achieves this while maintaining the site’s heritage, with the faience tiles echoing the formal motifs of its neighbouring buildings. Lord Simon Woolley, Principal of Homerton College, said: “Our new dining hall is a beautiful beacon which from the outside speaks to our ambition and values, and on the inside provides space for our students, Fellows, staff and guests to have conversations, debates, music, theatre and of course, fine dining, all under this magical roof.” Ingleton Wood is one of the largest property and construction consultancies covering Central England, East Anglia, London and the South East, with offices in Cambridge, Oxford, London, Colchester, Billericay and Norwich. Its services include architecture, building surveying, building services engineering, planning, interior design, civil and structural engineering, quantity surveying, project management and health and safety. For more information about Ingleton Wood, visit www.ingletonwood.co.uk.
Construction works have been completed on a new first school on the Bramshall Meadows estate on Ivinson Way in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Midlands-based main contractor G F Tomlinson has been leading the construction of the school since works started on the 12,000 sq. metre site last year. The school will offer places for pupils from four to nine-year-olds, as well as nursery placements and looks forward to welcoming the first cohort of pupils at the start of the academic year in September. An official opening ceremony will be held in October. The £4.3 million scheme has been completed through Staffordshire County Council’s Capital Framework and has been designed and project managed by Entrust. Now complete, the school will be led and managed by The Uttoxeter Learning Trust. The new, single storey 1 form entry (1FE) first school has been developed as part of a wider plan to expand first school provision in Uttoxeter in response to an increased demand for places generated from new housing in the local area, such as the Bramshall Meadows housing development. It represents the first school to be constructed in Uttoxeter in response to growth, comprising a nursery, classrooms, a multi-use hall, catering space, outdoor sports pitch, play areas and car parking. G F Tomlinson has been entrusted to deliver five schools to date for Staffordshire County Council with Bramshall Meadows First School being the latest, following the recently completed Fradley Park Primary School in Lichfield. Chris Flint, Managing Director at G F Tomlinson, said: “We feel very privileged to have been able to deliver this brand-new, high-quality school building for Staffordshire County Council which will create much-needed school places for children in the local area. The project is the first to be completed in response to the rise in demand for places within Uttoxeter and we feel very proud. “We very much look forward to seeing the school welcome pupils in September as the children take their first steps to embark on their academic journeys. The school has been designed with future growth and expansion very much in mind to provide an excellent learning environment for the growing community.” Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education said: “Bramshall Meadows has been built in response to increased housing in the area, which has meant there will be more demand for school places. Whenever there is new housing in an area, we always work with developers, local schools and the Department for Education to put plans in place to meet increased demand for school places. “It’s fantastic that local children will be able to learn in a brand-new school with lots of amazing facilities, and I am sure they are looking forward to starting school life in September.” Andrea Cairns, Executive Headteacher at Bramshall Meadows First School, commented: “We are absolutely delighted with the new school and the high quality of the build project with all of its amazing facilities. We are very excited to welcome the first children into school in September!” To find out more about the school and further information about student places, visit: https://www.bramshallmeadows.org.uk/
Contractor G F Tomlinson has completed construction work on a new first school on the Bramshall Meadows estate on Ivinson Way in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. The new school will offer pupils 12,000 sq. metres of space, as well as nursery placements. Completed through Staffordshire County Council’s Capital Framework, the £4.3 million scheme has been designed and project managed by Entrust. and now that it is completed, it will be led and managed by The Uttoxeter Learning Trust. “We feel very privileged to have been able to deliver this brand-new, high-quality school building for Staffordshire County Council which will create much-needed school places for children in the local area. The project is the first to be completed in response to the rise in demand for places within Uttoxeter and we feel very proud,” said Chris Flint, Managing Director at G F Tomlinson. “We very much look forward to seeing the school welcome pupils in September as the children take their first steps to embark on their academic journeys. The school has been designed with future growth and expansion very much in mind to provide an excellent learning environment for the growing community.” Developed in response to an increased demand for school places in Uttoxeter generated by new housing in the area, such as the Bramshall Meadows housing development, the new, single storey 1 form entry (1FE) school is the first to be constructed in Uttoxeter. The new school comprises a nursery, classrooms, a multi-use hall, catering space, outdoor sports pitch, play areas and car parking. “Bramshall Meadows has been built in response to increased housing in the area, which has meant there will be more demand for school places. Whenever there is new housing in an area, we always work with developers, local schools and the Department for Education to put plans in place to meet increased demand for school places. It’s fantastic that local children will be able to learn in a brand-new school with lots of amazing facilities, and I am sure they are looking forward to starting school life in September,” commented Jonathan Price, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education. G F Tomlinson has been entrusted to deliver five schools to date for Staffordshire County Council with Bramshall Meadows First School being the latest, following the recently completed Fradley Park Primary School in Lichfield. “We are absolutely delighted with the new school and the high quality of the build project with all of its amazing facilities. We are very excited to welcome the first children into school in September,” concluded Andrea Cairns, Executive Headteacher at Bramshall Meadows First School. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction and Property News
Contractor Henry Brothers has handed over a new extension at Glossopdale School to Derbyshire County Council. The £4million extension is the second phase of the Council’s plan to increase capacity at the school, which can now take up to 1,440 pupils. The new space will provide an additional nine teaching spaces comprising eight standard classrooms and a demonstration science lab. It will also provide flexible options for dining and social spaces and extra staff workrooms. Ian Taylor, Managing Director of Henry Brothers Midlands, said: “Having built the main Glossopdale School, which has proved so popular, Henry Brothers is delighted to have now delivered an extension to create additional space for a further 200 students. “We have partnered with Derbyshire County Council on several school projects over recent years, helping to enhance facilities, and it’s great to see the completion of this latest scheme. “Working alongside employers agent Concertus, DLA Architecture, civil and structural engineer Curtins and Couch Perry Wilkes for M & E services, Henry Brothers has helped to deliver a superb scheme, which will allow additional pupils to attend this popular school.” The addition, which was funded by the Council, is set into the hillside and also includes a new multi-use outdoor games area for play and PE. Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Alex Dale, said: “It’s great to see the handover of the new phase of the planned Glossopdale expansion, and we’re really pleased that it’s been delivered ahead of the original strategy to help us meet local demand. “We’re committed to ensuring young people in Derbyshire have the best possible start in life and access to a high-quality education is at the heart of that. I’m really pleased that the school will be welcoming pupils back into this new space from September.” Jess Etienne, Key Account Manager at Concertus Design & Property Consultants, said: “Considering the economic climate during the construction period, we are pleased to have been able to play our part in delivering these high-quality educational facilities and we are so thrilled with the outcome. The close and positive working relationship between Concertus, Derbyshire County Council, and Henry Brothers has played an instrumental part in the success of this project, and we are excited to see the students continue their journey in their new setting.” Nottingham-based Henry Brothers Midlands is part of The Henry Group, which comprises a number of manufacturing and construction sector companies, ranging from external construction through to interiors fit-out. Henry Brothers is on a carbon reduction journey and is committed to cutting its carbon emissions by 50% by the year 2030, and to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. For more information, visit www.henrybrothers.co.uk
Work has commenced at a new all-through school in Abergavenny, with Morgan Sindall Construction being appointed as contractor for the project. Councillors were faced with the plans earlier this year when the existing comprehensive school’s building was considered for replacement. The project is part of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, which aims to improve buildings and education facilities throughout the region. Totalling £61 million, the rebuild work consists of replacing the existing King Henry VIII High School and combining it with the Deri View Primary School to create a single 1,900 place all-through school for three to 19-year-olds. At the heart of the design are the pupils at Abergavenny school, who have been heavily involved in consultation events. The discussions have helped shape plans for the school, which is set to welcome students in 2024. As part of the changes involved in the new development are an additional learning needs base and a flying start early learning centre and wrap around childcare facility. There will also be plenty of sport provisions, with a full-size 3G football pitch, 2G hockey pitch and recreational grass pitches for all field sports as well as a three court multi-use games area. Moreover, the Abergavenny school has been developed with sustainability in mind and it will run on Building and Ground mounted Solar Panels with mains electric back up. The design includes 18 electric vehicle charging points and rainwater harvesting as well as storm water retention storage to minimise impact of surface water downstream. Morgan Sindall Construction is also using modern methods of construction including site metering and AI to detect when heaters and electronics have been left on but are not in use. Phase 1 of the development will focus on the construction of the main school, with phase 2 involving the demolition of the existing building and creation of a hockey pitch. Groundworks are currently taking place to plateau the hill on which the school will be built. Using its extensive experience in delivering educational facilities whilst working on live sites, the tier one contractor will use a separate entrance and maintain a clear line of separation between the existing school to avoid disruption to pupil’s learning. The development was awarded to Morgan Sindall Construction through the £1 billion South East & Mid Wales Collaborative Construction (SEWSCAP) framework. The contractor has already delivered more than 6,000 school places in Wales through SEWSCAP and its commitment to backing local suppliers has seen it route more than 90% of spend through Welsh subcontractors and consultants during this time, totalling more than £150 million. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction and Property News
A topping out ceremony has taken place to celebrate the latest milestone in the creation of a £9 million sustainable pavilion, being built by Henry Brothers, to expand SportPark, the multi award-winning development at Loughborough University. The 2000 sq m project on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) is being built to Passivhaus Classic Accreditation to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and is scheduled for completion at the end of the year. As the first Passivhaus development on the University campus, SportPark Pavilion 4 will give sports organisations the unique opportunity to secure environmentally future-proof accommodation that is tailored to their needs. It will also enable occupants to reduce their carbon footprint due to highly efficient heat pumps, opening triple-glazed windows, solar shading to avoid summer overheating as well as a well-insulated building fabric to minimise heat loss. Passivhaus consultants Beyond Carbon Associates have hailed the development as “an exciting, future-facing building, treading lightly on our planet’s resources using Passivhaus energy conservation, solar PV and a climate resilient design to manage future heat waves.” Ian Taylor, Managing Director at leading construction company, Henry Brothers said: “SportPark Pavilion 4 is an exciting Passivhaus development which is supporting Loughborough University’s plans to decarbonise its estate to meet the Government’s zero carbon target by 2050. “It also builds on Henry Brothers’ growing portfolio of environmentally sound schemes and we are very pleased to have reached this milestone in this important development for the University.” Henry Brothers recently announced its Journey to Net Zero strategy, outlining plans to build upon its extensive foundations in sustainability. SportPark Pavilion 4 will project the University’s and Henry Brothers’ forward thinking and environmentally conscious values, delivering significant benefits to its occupants. Professor Mike Caine, Loughborough University Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Sport, said: “SportPark is a tremendous asset to the University and wider region – housing complementary organisations, working in partnership with the University, and harnessing the power of sport to benefit communities, locally, nationally, and around the world. “SportPark Pavilion 4 will provide the capacity to welcome yet more mission-driven organisations to the University, and to reinforce the East Midlands region’s potential as a global sports innovation hub, with Loughborough at its heart. “The SportPark expansion coincides with a growing number of innovation and technology-led sports businesses launching at, or relocating to, LUSEP, attracted to the collaborative environment and access to the University’s world-leading expertise in sports science, engineering, health and well-being, high-performance athlete base, and sports infrastructure.” SportPark Pavilion 4 is delivered by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) as part of the Getting Building Fund (GBF). Funds were designated for investment in local, shovel-ready infrastructure projects to stimulate jobs and support economic recovery across the country. The LLEP was allocated £20 million, supporting the SportPark 4 project with £6 million. A separate £1.8 million GBF allocation helped fund improvements at Junction 23 and the A512, which links the M1 with Loughborough. It makes LUSEP one of the most accessible science parks in the UK. Andy Reed OBE, Interim Chair of the LLEP Board of Directors, said: “Loughborough University’s global reputation for sport brings tremendous opportunities for us all and, through this fourth pavilion, provides new jobs and opportunity for further growth across a range of services. “This latest project directly supports 165 jobs, with more than 150 in the wider economy. Importantly, it also helps create further demand to bring sports-related organisations and businesses to the region. “On a separate note, it’s really pleasing for me personally to see the continued development of SportPark. I was fortunate to be involved in creating the vision of a sports cluster at the University for the first phases of the development back in the mid-2000s. It’s wonderful to see it continue going from strength to strength.” To find out more about Henry Brothers, visit henrybrothers.co.uk
THE education sector is well versed in procuring built environment work. However, current market constraints, the latest statistics on the level of work needed across school estates and the lack of associated funding means that it will not be an easy road for many. Emma Hesbrook, regional manager at national framework provider Pagabo, discusses how compliant procurement through frameworks and a direct award approach can support schools with their building programmes. 61 schools have been announced this week as successful in securing funding from the government’s school rebuilding programme. Although, this number is a drop in the ocean when compared to the fact that 1,105 schools applied for support within a short four-week window earlier this year. With the Department for Education (DfE) planning to support 500 projects in the next decade, that means more than half of this batch of applicants are likely to miss out on funding altogether – and considering the DfE has previously revealed that more than £11 billion of repair work is needed across England’s schools, this is significantly short of what is needed. To qualify for this latest allocation of funding, schools had to demonstrate that they had at least 1,200 square metres of ‘severe condition need’ to apply. The government has quite rightly prioritised applications with ‘structural or safety issues that pose risk to users’, followed by those showing ‘severe deterioration’ in external walls, roofs, windows or doors, or those with mechanical and electrical systems ‘close to failure’. However, outside of these categories there are thousands of schools that require refurbishment work that are just as important. As well as maintenance, another consideration is the drive towards net zero. Almost 70 per cent of schools around the country comprise of buildings from before the 2000s – with 20 per cent dating back to the first half of the 20th century or even earlier. There are no prizes for guessing when education providers prefer – or rely on – construction work to be undertaken considering that summer offers the largest annual window in which sites are significantly quieter. Post-covid, summer has provided an ideal concentrated timespan to get building work, critical repair or maintenance work done. With such a significant number of schools needing work and likely to miss out on funding, it’s fair to assume that next summer will be busier than ever with summer works – and we may see a marked increase in works during term time as well. When it comes to carrying out education projects in recent months, we have seen an increase in contractors turning projects off and turning their backs on expensive bidding opportunities. This comes as no real surprise when considering the backdrop of rising costs, and materials and labour shortages across the construction industry – but it has given the direct award process a new lease of life in the procurement realm. We know that clients have existing supply chain relationships, which must be nurtured. While framework providers are capable of consulting and opening up a network of compliant suppliers, there is intangible value found in building on existing collaboration, which direct award can allow. The direct award approach is one that can work for both low and high-value projects, offering benefits including greater cost and programme certainty, tailored social value outcomes and no stressful or costly bidding process. It also allows for a quick turnaround for supplier appointment, without compensating on compliance checks. One such example of a recent scheme that maximised the benefits of the direct award process is Nottingham College. The team approached us in April for a low value project to be completed this summer. The expression of interest went to market via our DPS and Medium Works framework, but with suppliers oversubscribed with work to assign the necessary bidding resource to the project, a direct award was suggested. Local contractor J Tomlinson was appointed quickly via direct award, getting the project on track and on site within weeks – and is now making excellent progress against the original programme timetable. Schools craft our experts of tomorrow and without the best environments, pupils’ learning experience will be impacted. This is why it’s so important that the built environment sector looks to support schools with creating those excellent environments, and while funding continues to fall short for schools, we must champion tactics like direct award to help schools in creating the environments they need however and where we can. For more information, please visit https://www.pagabo.co.uk/
Bouygues UK has handed over the Translational Research Hub to Cardiff University, marking the completion of its work on the Cardiff Innovation Campus. The Translational Research Hub (TRH) will house two world-leading scientific research establishments; the Institute for Compound Semiconductors and Cardiff Catalysis Institute. “Handing over the Translational Research Hub to our valued client Cardiff University brings our work on Cardiff Innovation Campus to a successful completion. It has been a hugely rewarding experience for our team to be involved in such a complex and exciting project which will provide world leading science and research,” said Bouygues UK’s Operations Director for Wales, Stephen Davies. “The success of the project has been underpinned by the great teamwork from all parties involved including our design team, supply chain partners, Gleeds and Cardiff University. I am particularly delighted with our team’s commitment to social value with over 470 hours of our staff’s time donated to education and support, 26 work experience placements offered, and 60 jobs given to previously unemployed people. We wish to thank Cardiff University, Gleeds and all our partners for their support and commitment in helping us to deliver an exceptional project to such a high standard.” Designed to foster collaboration, the 129,000sq ft research hub is the largest of its kind in Wales, bringing together industrial partners alongside researchers to design, develop and test new cleaner, greener products and processes using the Hub’s bespoke laboratories, offices, shared collaborative scientific spaces, ERDF-funded cleanroom and state-of-the-art microscopy suite. Bouygues UK won the contract to build the £150m state of the art campus, part of Cardiff University’s biggest campus upgrade for a generation. The TRH is adjacent to the sbarc|spark building, which was the first building Bouygues UK completed for the University’s Cardiff Innovation Campus. It features 12,000msq of floor space across six storeys, an oculus staircase leading to commercial units and lab spaces for spinouts and start-ups as well as a public open space with a café and a flexible auditorium for TEDx-style events. Social value was a key factor during the build of the Innovation Campus and throughout the project Bouygues UK delivered almost 6,000 weeks of employment for apprentices, trainees, graduates and previously unemployed people. “I am delighted this innovation centre of excellence is now open for business. The significant investment we’ve made in the centre will help bring some of the most brilliant minds in Welsh academia together to find and develop made-in-Wales solutions to the major problems facing Wales and the rest of the world,” continued Wales’s Economy Minister Vaughan Gething. “Developing ‘next generation’ practices and technologies that will both shape our lives today and improve our experiences tomorrow will be crucial if we are to meet the climate emergency head on and build a greener, more sustainable economy,” he concluded. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction and Property News
Leading Midlands contractor, G F Tomlinson, has completed works to construct a new medical physics bunker at the University of Birmingham, which is due to house the UK’s first High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility. The new bunker is located at the university’s Edgbaston Campus, on the site of the Physics East Building which forms part of The School of Physics and Astronomy. G F Tomlinson oversaw both the design and build of the project. Construction of the bunker began in September 2020, with the grounds of an existing bank of land being excavated down eight metres from the high side, and four and a half metres from the lower side under guidance from geologists. The main contractor worked closely with concrete structure specialists Northfield Construction Ltd and M&E engineers Dodd Group, to erect a steel frame following excavation works and the installation of a concrete structure – with a 450mm thick floor, 600mm thick walls and a 300mm thick floor slab on top. In addition to this specialist radiation doors were installed. Landscaping works have also been carried out on site, with the sowing of grass seed and planting of trees along the bank leading up to the bunker. Now complete, the bunker will house a High-Flux Accelerator, which will allow researchers at the university to better understand how neutrons interact with matter, helping to pave the way for how this research and technology can be applied in nuclear medicine and the study of space. G F Tomlinson installed a gantry crane and roller shutter to enable the installation of the High-Flux Accelerator, which has now been lifted into place. The contractor is due to return later this year to then install a wall in place of the shutter, sealing the highly specialised equipment safely into its final location which is due to be fully operational by summer this year. The High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility will be the first of its kind in the UK, and only the second such facility in the world – the other located in Helsinki in Finland. It forms part of the National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF), which is funded by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It will create a new hub for international research with applications extending to nuclear medicine and space, as well as enable a national training programme to boost the UK skills base in these state-of-the-art techniques. Chris Flint, managing director of G F Tomlinson, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have completed the construction of this new bunker. It will be home to an important international facility designed to perform crucial research in the nuclear sector, which can be used to further specialised nuclear medicine and the understanding of materials in space. “The bunker has been meticulously designed and built with safety and security of the utmost priority – the thickness of the concrete structure will ensure protection from radiation, as well as the installation of specialist radiation doors into the facility. Once fully installed, the facility will be operated in accordance with strict guidelines set out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency. “We worked on site whilst the adjacent Physics East Building was occupied and being used for studying and essential testing throughout each day of the project, we therefore took great care to ensure our works did not disrupt the existing building users. “The University of Birmingham has a long-standing history and track record of carrying out vital scientific research and it is wonderful to have worked with them to provide the ideal location for this unique facility, which will set a benchmark for further investment and development in the UK’s nuclear research future.” Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction Industry News