ISG will build an extension to the college鈥檚 south wing. The project comes after an 拢85m scheme to replace the existing campus was cancelled in 2008, part-way through development by the now disbanded Learning & Skills Council.
The new linked four-storey extension is being constructed on partially formed foundations 鈥� the legacy of the earlier redevelopment scheme. ISG will install further piles to support the new concrete-frame teaching block, which will provide additional classrooms, workshops, a library building and office accommodation.
The building will be linked at all levels by glazed walkways to the west wing on the Sheepen Road campus in Colchester and incorporates a raft of sustainable features to help achieve a BREEAM Excellent environmental performance rating.
The 41,500 sq ft extension includes eight engineering and construction skills workshops at ground floor level 鈥� providing teaching space for students in plumbing, electrical engineering and advanced manufacturing.
At first floor level, ISG will create a library, seminar rooms and a facility for the study of building technology and renewable energy sources. General teaching spaces, ICT suites, multi-purpose science laboratories, woodwork, a pottery workshop and a TV studio facility are located across the two upper levels.聽聽聽聽聽聽
The building鈥檚 sustainable credentials include roof-mounted photo voltaic panels and solar water collectors, air source heat pumps and a rainwater harvesting and re-use system. Colchester Institute students will study these sustainable construction technologies as part of the curriculum.
The project is scheduled for completion ahead of the new academic year in September 2015.聽
ISG regional director Liam Duffy said: 鈥淭his long-awaited project will enable Colchester Institute to move out of temporary accommodation into modern, high-specification teaching space. Construction-related qualifications are a key element of the curriculum offer and we will be actively involving students at all stages of the build process to provide some real site-based experience.鈥�
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