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Appointed by Yorkshire-based Kirklees College on new campus developments

1st Nov 2016

One of the biggest colleges in the country has appointed Hydrock to undertake work on two of its latest landmark campus developments.

Kirklees College in Yorkshire has multiple learning centres across the Kirklees area following the merger of Dewsbury College and Huddersfield Technical College in 2008. The college serves 18,000 learners across full time study, apprenticeships and part time courses.

Our Manchester-based Building Performance Engineering team has been appointed to undertake the RIBA Stage 3 MEP design on the Kirklees College Dewsbury Learning Quarter (pictured above). This project is a new 4,500 sq m hi-tech college built on brownfield land in Dewsbury which has recently received planning consent.

As a result of the tender process and Design & Build procurement, where Hydrock helped determine the preferred bidder, and following completion of the Stage 3 design work, we will be retained by the College to oversee the design and installation as Technical Advisor.

We have also undertaken background acoustic surveys and measurement as part of the early design stage considerations to inform on noise around the site. This £8m scheme will achieve BREEAM Excellent without implementing any renewable technologies into the scheme design.

We are also appointed to Pioneer House to support the refurbishment and adaptation of a 5,200 sq m Grade II listed building in the centre of Dewsbury. The building will replace the existing Wheelwright Centre which was formerly the Batley School of Art. This is a challenging project as it aims to maximise daylight whilst adapting the building for 21st century learning including ICT and comfort conditions.

We are working in close collaboration with the client design team, the local authority and Conservation and English Heritage to ensure that the many listed parts of the building are sensitively maintained within the works.

Funding for both projects has been granted by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (the LEP). The WYCA and LEP work closely together to deliver a shared strategic economic plan for the region. A budget of £15m for the two projects has been granted.