The current drive to
raise digital skills in the workforce is creating a promising new stream of
construction projects as government funds are channelled towards new
educational and other buildings to promote the online economy.
The New Anglia Local
Enterprise Partnership recently secured £14.5 million for four new projects to
boost digital education in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are designed to meet a
forecast demand for 10,000 new workers with online skills in the area by the mid-2020s.
The new projects
include a new £6.5 million digital skills & innovation centre at the
University of Suffolk in Ipswich which will involve the construction of 1 600
sq m of new space to accommodate over 500 new students and around 150
apprentices.
A new £1.6 million
digital & technology skills hub is also to be built at Suffolk New College
in Ipswich, partly to provide skills for local small and medium size firms to
boost their digital capability.
Meanwhile, at City
College in Norwich, funding has been secured for the construction of a £6.1
million ‘digi-tech factory’. The 2,780 sq m building will serve as centre for
students and local SMEs to boost their digital potential.
Significant
construction projects linked to initiatives to boost digital skills across
colleges and businesses are also in the pipeline in other major cities.
Glenigan
Construction market analysis shows that construction is set to start this
summer on a £6 million ‘digital innovation factory’ at the University of
Liverpool. It will involve a three-storey teaching and R&D facility across
1 545 sq m, with work set to continue for eight months (Glenigan Project ID:
18248641).
Elsewhere in the
North West, Kier Construction has been appointed as the main contractor on a
£35 million digital arts building for Manchester Metropolitan University (pictured above). Work
is set to start on the six-storey building - which will include digital
innovation laboratories, media exhibition space and seminar rooms - in summer
2019 and run for 20 months (Project ID: 18260654).
At the privately-run
Cranfield University, near Bedford, tenders are currently being invited for a
£8.5 million digital aviation research and technology centre. Construction work
on the two-storey building, which is being publicly funded, is due to start
this autumn and continue for around 12 months (Glenigan Project ID 18381990).
One of the most
ambitious digital-related developments in the pipeline is a £30 million digital
village in Kingsway, Swansea to be built on the site of a former nightclub.
Invitations to tender are expected by the middle of this year for the project,
which is being funded by the Swansea Bay City Region. It will involve offices
covering almost 9,300 sq m, with work set to continue for 16 months (Glenigan
Project ID: 17171075).
The private sector
is also investing in the construction of new space to accommodate the growing
demand for digital skills. In Sheffield, the Scarborough Development Group has
submitted detailed plans for a £13 million digital campus building involving a
7-8 storey block with some 7 629 sq m of space. Construction work on the
project is set to start next autumn and continue for 14 months (Glenigan
Project ID: 19057948).
