College campus revamp kicks off

Work is progressing well on a £13 million design and build contract to refurbish five college buildings, as part of the £25 million redevelopment of MidKent College’s Maidstone Campus at Oakwood Park.

Denne, part of the Leadbitter Group, is refurbishing four two-storey buildings and a seven-storey building to meet the standard of the College’s Medway Campus, which opened in 2009.

Three of the two-storey buildings are being reclad or overclad with a mixture of micro-rib insulated metal, larch, translucent polycarbonate and metal composite profiled sheets and will have new metal roofs. The design is intended to reflect the cherry orchard that was previously on site.

The buildings are being remodelled and refurbished internally to create new learning spaces and workshops, while a new link building will be constructed between two of the buildings. Denne will carry out soft and hard landscaping of the surroundings, as well as building a new entrance and central courtyard.

The project, designed by CC Studio Architects, is aiming for a BREEAM Very Good rating and also includes increasing the height of the tower of the seven-storey building with a light box to create a landmark beacon for both the College and Oakwood Park.

Graham Brown, Managing Director of Denne, said: “Working on a live campus brings its challenges and as such the sequencing and logistics of the construction is very important and critical to the programme. That is why our experience in this field makes us ideally suited for this project, to provide outstanding new facilities which will benefit the students for many years to come.”

Ian Rule, Director of Finance, MidKent College, said: “Denne has a fantastic record of delivering quality results and we were impressed by their drive and passion for this exciting project. They really understand the College’s vision and values, and will be a valuable partner for us.”

The overall redevelopment, which is due for completion in December 2013, will also include the refurbishment of the University for the Creative Arts’ Maidstone campus, which was purchased by the College last year and forms part of the Oakwood Park complex.