Leading construction firm in the South West, Willmott Dixon, has started work on a multi-million pound new build at The Bournemouth & Poole College.
The £8.8 million pound project, part of the £11.7m development at the College’s North Road site, includes a brand new building that will be home to a contemporary 136-seat Performing Arts Theatre, a Digital Media Centre and new laboratories for Health and Medical Sciences.
The new building, the start of which was celebrated with an official ceremony, will complement The College’s investment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, sitting adjacent to their new STEM Centre that opened last year. The building will provide students with state-of-the art facilities and will be sustainable by installing voltaic panels to the roof to generate electricity for the building.
The construction will take place on a live site to enable the college to fully function during the construction period, whilst also ensuring optimum safety on site.
The ceremony was attended by Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon; Andy Jones, Willmott Dixon Operations Manager; Joy Postings, chair of the Board of the Corporation; Lawrence Vincent, Principal and Chief Executive, Ken Roberts, Bournemouth and Poole College’s Director of Resources, along with other delegates and partners.
Neal Stephens said: “We’re excited to be working on this project with The Bournemouth & Poole College to update their facilities and create more room for their students
“We have worked on a range of Further and Higher education buildings in the South West – for example most recently, Bournemouth University’s new £10.5 million student centre – and we’re looking forward to bringing our expertise in the education sector to this project.”
Ken Roberts said: “We’ve been working closely with Willmott Dixon for a few months to establish a way in which we can improve the quality of the students experience at the college.
“We’re looking forward to watching the building develop and providing a better environment for students to excel in their studies.”
The project is scheduled to take 65 weeks to complete and is due to be handed back to the college in June 2015, ready to start the new college term in September.
Issued by: Golley Slater PR Wales
