An important milestone has been celebrated in the construction of Kingsley Healthcare’s flagship luxury King’s Court Nursing Home in Holt, north Norfolk. Directors of Kingsley and Norfolk contractor R G Carter were joined by staff from both companies for a traditional topping out ceremony to mark the completion of the
Work is now underway on the much-needed 420-place new primary school in Cringleford near Norwich. A ground-breaking ceremony, which traditionally marks the beginning of construction for new building projects, was attended by: Norfolk County Council, which is funding and commissioning the new school; Inspiration Trust, which will be running it;
A special ground-breaking event was held to mark the start of construction work by R G Carter on the new sixth form building at King Ecgbert School in Dore, south-west of Sheffield. Head Teacher Paul Haigh and staff from the school joined representatives from the school’s governance and the R
Construction firm, R G Carter has recently completed the construction of two new secure inspection facilities for Hutchinson Ports along the East Anglia coast. R G Carter won the bid to design and construct both secure inspection facilities at two of the UK’s most important ports, Harwich International in Essex,
R G Carter has completed the £11.4 million Digi-Tech Factory at Norwich City College which brings together the college’s digital skills provision into a single, purpose-built space, allowing the college to significantly increase the number of students and apprentices studying digital courses. City College Norwich, New Anglia LEP, and Norwich City Council (through the Department for
Broadland Housing and R G Carter have celebrated reaching the fourth phase of Canary Quay, a new modern housing development on the River Wensum in Norwich city centre. Construction of 101, one-and-two-bedroom apartments has already started on site and represents the final stage of the Canary Quay regeneration project in
Construction work on Colchester Borough Council’s multi-million pound Sports Park, located at Colchester Northern Gateway off junction 28 of the A12 in Colchester, has now completed. The brand-new 76-acre sports and leisure facility features a fully floodlit one-mile closed cycle track, a learn to ride facility and cycle pump track
An important milestone has been celebrated in the construction of Kingsley Healthcare’s flagship luxury King’s Court Nursing Home in Holt, north Norfolk. Directors of Kingsley and Norfolk contractor R G Carter were joined by staff from both companies for a traditional topping out ceremony to mark the completion of the roof. Welcoming everyone to the rooftop of the building, in Hempstead Road, R G Carter Joint Managing Director James Carter said: “The provenance of any building is about the people who designed it and the people who built it and that’s why it’s fitting to get everyone together today to mark the building’s watertightness in a traditional beer pouring ceremony.” Praising the collaboration with Kingsley’s design team, he said they were now “well along the journey” to completing the project in time for the care home to open in January. Kingsley’s Chief Investment Officer Muj Malik said: “We are delighted to be working on our first project with R G Carter who bring the same values as a trusted family business in the region. We hope this will be just the beginning of a long and successful relationship with them.” He said King’s Court was Kingsley’s flagship project, realising their vision of developing truly next-generation care homes. The home will provide 66 luxury bedrooms, including larger premium rooms, some with terraces or garden access. Facilities will include a hairdressing and therapy salon, a cinema, a library, a community café and a private dining room. A top team of interior designers will ensure the décor and furnishings of the home match the quality of the building. Two acres of landscaped gardens will include a delightful woodland walk with wheelchair access. As well as providing a much-needed facility for quality nursing, dementia, residential and respite care, King’s Court will also create more than 80 well-paid jobs giving a considerable boost to the local economy. The care home was designed by Kingsley’s Group Design Director Rob Patkai who said: “We are proud to be delivering our vision of a truly next-generation home, built with resident wellbeing in mind. “Its convenient location on the edge of town provides easy access to all parts of north Norfolk.” King’s Court is the 35th care home in the UK opened by Kingsley Healthcare and is one of an exciting pipeline of next generation nursing homes the company is rolling out across the country. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Work is now underway on the much-needed 420-place new primary school in Cringleford near Norwich. A ground-breaking ceremony, which traditionally marks the beginning of construction for new building projects, was attended by: Norfolk County Council, which is funding and commissioning the new school; Inspiration Trust, which will be running it; and RG Carter which is building it. The new school is being built on land off Colney Lane on the edge of Norwich. It will be a second primary school for the growing village of Cringleford, which is due to see around 1,300 new homes built. Cllr Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “It’s really exciting to see work starting, it demonstrates the council’s commitment to making sure there are the right number of school places so children can go to school in their local communities.” Cllr David Bills, local member for the county council’s Humbleyard division, said: “I know local residents will be pleased to see that the project to make this new school a reality is underway, enabling more children in this growing community to go to school close to home.” Mario Rackham, Director and General Manager at R G Carter, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been appointed to deliver this much-needed school for the local community and to have hosted this celebration to mark the start of its construction. “We have extensive experience in providing high-quality educational facilities across the region and are looking forward to working in partnership with Inspiration Trust and Norfolk County Council Children’s Services to deliver this exciting new project in Cringleford.” Gareth Stevens, Chief Executive Officer of Inspiration Trust, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the opportunity to open a new free school in Cringleford and it was wonderful to see the building works underway. “We have a clear mission across all our schools – to provide the children of our county with the best possible education and being able to open this new free school in Cringleford will enable us to expand further on this, improving outcomes for even more children and setting them up to succeed in the next stage of their education.” The new school will be two storeys with car parking for staff and visitors, including electric charging spaces, and external hard and soft surfaced outdoor play areas. Its design and layout has been carefully done to reduce net carbon in the operational energy demands of the school and respects the local area and new housing. The new building would have solar panels, passive stack natural ventilation, air source heat pumps and an all-electric kitchen. The school is due to open in September next year. It is one of a proposed 26 new schools proposed for the county within the next 10 years as part of Norfolk County Council’s £308 million Local Growth and Investment Plan to ensure sufficient places in areas of major planned housing growth. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
A special ground-breaking event was held to mark the start of construction work by R G Carter on the new sixth form building at King Ecgbert School in Dore, south-west of Sheffield. Head Teacher Paul Haigh and staff from the school joined representatives from the school’s governance and the R G Carter team to celebrate this exciting milestone in the project. A time capsule was also created to commemorate the commencement of the works which will be buried on the site later in project. By utilising the main school building for students aged 11-16, this one-storey, 1294 m2, building will provide a stunning, new, dedicated modern space for sixth form lessons and studying and is expected to be completed during the academic intake year of 2023. The new building will house 15 new state of the art classrooms and features a giant wall-to-floor glass study room where students will have access to university standard facilities and technology to support their learning. Designed around the feeling of university study spaces students will have the pleasure of learning in a relaxed, adult environment with stunning views out over the countryside. King Ecgbert School is a large 11-18 secondary school of around 1,450 students. The sixth form currently accommodates around 380 students; the new building will help increase its total capacity, allowing the school to absorb all current and future catchment needs and allow the school and sixth form to grow. Classed as a ‘System Leading School’, the school is rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, was awarded World Class School status in 2018 and was voted World Class School of the Year in 2019. King Ecgbert School has a reputation for helping to prepare a high number of students to progress to further education destinations, include Russell Group universities as well as having an inclusive ethos hosting Sheffield’s largest Integrated Resource for children on the autistic spectrum. The increase in capacity will only strengthen these offers. Headteacher Paul Haigh said: “We are delighted to mark the beginning of the construction of our new sixth form building. It has been a huge privilege for me to break the ground today in what will soon be a first-class learning setting and an exciting, inspirational, and creative centre for future lawyers, medics, nurses, sports stars, artists, and teachers.” Tim Owen, Senior Project Manager for R G Carter Lincoln Ltd, said: “We’re extremely proud to be working in partnership with King Ecgbert School, its Multi Academy Trust Leadership team, and Sheffield City Council on this outstanding new sixth form building. Everything about the new building has been designed with the students in mind and to provide an educational space that will not only benefit current pupils but also future generations for many years to come.” Chris French, CEO for the Mercia Learning Trust, said: “It’s extremely exciting to finally get the ball rolling on the school’s new sixth form building. It will provide pupils with state-of-the-art facilities, modern classrooms and an environment and help provide the space to accommodate all catchment students as they progress through school.” Councillor Mick Rooney and Councillor Dawn Dale, Co-Chairs of the Education, Children and Families Committee, said: “It’s fantastic news to see this work starting at King Ecgbert School which will result in an easing of pressures on school places from September 2023, especially in South-West Sheffield. It’s an excellent example of how King Ecgbert School and Mercia Learning Trust and the council are working in partnership after securing funds from the Department for Education for this project. We have recognised the demand in the school and this new building will mean that pupils can progress through to sixth form and that we can provide high quality integrated resource places for pupils with special educational needs. It’s very reassuring to see such progress.” As part of the pre-construction design process students worked closely with HLM Architects and the interior designers to ensure the building reflected their needs and tastes. The student body chose soft colour pallets for the classrooms and thought about every detail, from the wooden flooring, to the quite spaces needed by some of its students with learning difficulties. This ethos will be continued throughout the construction process with Core Architects and the R G Carter site team. R G Carter Lincoln Ltd secured this project under the YORBuild3 Medium Works Framework. The project is funded by Sheffield City Council. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Construction firm, R G Carter has recently completed the construction of two new secure inspection facilities for Hutchinson Ports along the East Anglia coast. R G Carter won the bid to design and construct both secure inspection facilities at two of the UK’s most important ports, Harwich International in Essex, and the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, to inspect goods such as fresh produce and plants entering the UK. Completing the new border control posts at Harwich within 42 weeks, the project was slightly larger in scale, and more complex in design and build compared to the second inspection facility delivered at Felixstowe. The new site at Harwich is situated close to a newly constructed port exit and features state-of-the-art, steel-framed buildings housing temperature-controlled conditions to maintain ambient, chilled, or frozen temperatures, dependent on the goods being inspected by DEFRA agencies. With over 100 years of construction expertise, the East Anglian-based construction firm has racked up experience working on the ports and similar projects in the past. One of the key tasks was managing their 200-strong workforce of staff and sub-contractors at Harwich International. James Wilson, General Manager and Director from R G Carter is delighted to be handing over another successful project to Hutchinson Port, he said: “This has been an exciting and truly collaborative project for us to be involved in and we are delighted to have delivered these essential facilities at these busy regional Ports. We are very proud to see them successfully open for operational use and hope they provide the very highest standards of efficiency required at this important checkpoint.” The Felixstowe project includes ten dock levellers and two loading bays, both featuring temperature-controlled rooms with commercial fridges and freezers. Both sites at Harwich and Felixstowe include high specification offices and welfare facilities for the Port and DEFRA staff. The completion of these projects has resulted in significant benefits to each respective Port. The site at Harwich also includes a new exit road which allows freight to access the facility and then exit directly on to the A120, reducing freight congestion and allowing for free-flowing traffic.
R G Carter has completed the £11.4 million Digi-Tech Factory at Norwich City College which brings together the college’s digital skills provision into a single, purpose-built space, allowing the college to significantly increase the number of students and apprentices studying digital courses. City College Norwich, New Anglia LEP, and Norwich City Council (through the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Towns’ Fund) have collectively invested £11.4m in the Digi-Tech Factory as a direct response to a key skills priority for Norfolk and Suffolk. Growth in the UK’s digi-tech sector has significantly outstripped that of the wider economy and that trend is set to continue. New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership wants to see more of the £100bn worth of economic output nationally being generated in the region – with its Strategic Economic Plan forecasting a need to fill 10,000 vacancies in the digi-tech sector by 2024. The importance of digital skills extends far beyond the digi-tech sector itself, with digital skills increasingly being required throughout the rest of the economy too. Designed by Coffey Architects and in collaboration with Pro:works, R G Carter has constructed the four storey building which is now equipped with £750,000 worth of the latest computer technology. Mario Rackham, Director and General Manager, R G Carter, said: “This cutting-edge building symbolises magnificently the forward-thinking and progressive digital study and discovery that will take place within it and we are thrilled to play a part in enhancing and developing the digital skills of people in Norwich and Norfolk.” Over 60 miles of cable have been installed throughout the building and 220 tonnes of steel were used to construct the factory. It is connected by two walkways to the award-winning Creative Arts Building, encouraging the natural cross-over and collaboration between the college’s University of the Arts London creative arts courses – including art and design, media production, graphic design, music, and photography – and digital skills training. Corrienne Peasgood OBE, Principal, City College Norwich, commented: “The Digi-Tech Factory will play a key role in enabling us to deliver innovative, industry-standard learning, and a digital skills curriculum developed with substantial input from employers. “It’s been brilliant seeing how the new building has been received by our lecturing staff, students, and apprentices, during the first weeks of term, and the difference this is already making to the teaching and learning of a wide range of digital skills. Jon Bonham, Director of Estates and Facilities at City College Norwich added: ‘We are delighted with how the build has gone and with the finished result, which has delivered on the crucial technical specifications as well as creating a stunning, state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment for the college’ Seven former City College Norwich students currently employed by R G Carter worked on the construction of the Digi-Tech Factory, including Assistant Project Manager, Ed Carr and Director and General Manager, Mario Rackham. In addition, four current construction students gained a combined 1,184 hours of work experience with R G Carter on site and the company donated 4,400 bricks to bricklaying students at the college.
Broadland Housing and R G Carter have celebrated reaching the fourth phase of Canary Quay, a new modern housing development on the River Wensum in Norwich city centre. Construction of 101, one-and-two-bedroom apartments has already started on site and represents the final stage of the Canary Quay regeneration project in which a total of more than 300 affordable and privately-owned homes are being created, offering modern living space in a desirable riverside location. Michael Newey, Group Chief Executive of Broadland Housing, said: “One of our priorities is to provide much needed affordable homes for the people living in the city. This development is part of the solution.” Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing added: “We are delighted to progress to phase 4 of this important development. Our strong partnership with Carters showcases what can be achieved together”. The final phase is expected to be completed in 2022 and will sit alongside 222 apartments completed in Phases One, Two and Three of the scheme’s construction officially named Patricia Hollis House, Richard Hawthorn House, Solace, Olive, Norada and White Moth. Mario Rackham, Director and General Manager at R G Carter, said: “We’re incredibly proud of this development and our continuing partnership with Broadland Housing. It’s great to see the Canary Quay regeneration finally coming together transforming the riverside area, while providing high-quality modern housing for the local community.” The spacious apartments will offer open plan living spaces, contemporary kitchens and bathrooms, a communal garden, riverside views and access to a new riverside walk that leads to the City Centre. The new apartments will be marketed from Autumn 2022 and available for residents to move in from Spring 2023. A drone video of the completed apartments can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/604911410/7aa5ce3a39 For more information on homes available to buy or rent at Canary Quay go to www.canaryquay.com
Construction work on Colchester Borough Council’s multi-million pound Sports Park, located at Colchester Northern Gateway off junction 28 of the A12 in Colchester, has now completed. The brand-new 76-acre sports and leisure facility features a fully floodlit one-mile closed cycle track, a learn to ride facility and cycle pump track alongside two latest generation 4G pitches and seven traditional grass rugby pitches. The sports centre building provides a five-court sports hall with facilities for a variety of sports including badminton, futsal and indoor cricket. The building also houses a fully equipped fitness suite, exercise and dance studios, an interactive velo studio, meeting rooms and a café. A stunning new state-of-the-art clubhouse has also been built overlooking the 4G and grass pitches which will become the new home of Colchester Rugby Football Club, whilst an archery range and clubhouse has been constructed to the south of the site which will become home to the Colchester and District Archery Club The whole facility is set within acres of green open spaces where to date over 500 trees and almost 120,000 hedgerow plants, shrubs, perennials and grasses have been planted for people’s future enjoyment, with further extensive planting planned. Colchester Borough Council funded the £28.8 million development which was project managed by Colchester Amphora Trading Ltd. It has been supported by significant funding from groups including British Cycling, Sport England, and from England and Wales Cricket Club. Work was carried out by East Anglia’s leading construction firm, R G Carter, who have now handed over the development to Colchester Borough Council. James Wilson, Director at R G Carter, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Colchester Amphora on a forward-thinking and unique project. Supporting the borough’s vision for providing the local community with a first-class sports hub, this new facility will encourage sport participation for many years to come.” Cllr Mark Cory, Leader of Colchester Borough Council said: “The completion of this inspiring facility marks a huge milestone towards our vision to give all of our residents new and wide-ranging opportunities to play sport, be healthy and enjoy our outdoor spaces. Importantly for me, the Sports Park will be accessible for all, offering activities for all abilities and those with disabilities. “My thanks to R G Carter for their expertise and commitment to deliver this project in what has been a challenging year. The result is an exceptional Sports Park that will enable people both locally and from across the wider region to get involved, get active and make the most of the remarkable facilities Colchester can offer. When things return to normal after Covid, this will be a facility Colchester can be proud of.” Property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle was appointed by Colchester Borough Council to provide a full suite of consultancy services for the complex, including project management and cost management. The delivery partners were procured through SCAPE consultancy which facilitated a direct award framework designed to drive collaboration, efficiency, time and cost savings. Galvin Tarling, regional partner for the East of England at Perfect Circle, said: “We are delighted to have been involved in Colchester’s Northern Gateway Sports Park, a project that will enrich the community it serves, provide a focal point for the local area, and offer a sustainable first-class social and leisure facility for all to enjoy for decades to come. “We provided more than 20 service elements under a single delivery agreement – speeding up the procurement process and offering an efficient and cost-effective route to market for Colchester Borough Council’s complex, community-focused new facility. Engaging Perfect Circle via SCAPE also gave the council access to our extensive supply chain. “Due to the council utilising Perfect Circle’s unique delivery model via SCAPE, together with the whole delivery team showing a true belief in collaboration, the project exceeded all expectations in providing a lasting legacy for the local community and Colchester Rugby Club.” Mark Robinson, group chief executive of SCAPE, added: “Delivering impactful and lasting social value is central to the government’s plans to build back better, faster and greener, and projects like this new state-of-the-art sports park typifies what needs to be delivered to achieve those plans. “Together, R G Carter, Perfect Circle and Colchester Borough Council have delivered a facility that will continue to enrich the community now and long into the future, creating lasting value for future generations.” The new sports and leisure park, part of the wider Colchester Northern Gateway development, is due to open in Spring 2021 under the operation of Leisure World Colchester. Anyone interested in finding out more about hiring the new sport facilities, can complete an expression of interest form by visiting colchesterleisureworld.co.uk/northerngatewaysportspark.
