Wates Construction has finished building the £72,300 sq ft Edgar Wood
Academy in Greater Manchester, marking the culmination of a two-year project on
behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).
The multi-million-pound Edgar
Wood Academy is located on Rochdale Road, Middleton. Designed by architect
Sheppard Robson, the school has the capacity to hold 900 pupils aged between 11
and 16 years old.
It features 23 general classrooms and 34 specialist classrooms across three
floors, as well as a sports hall, sports pitches, and soft and hard play areas.
It is being operated by the Altus Education Partnership, a charitable
institution and registered company.
The school’s first cohort of 120 Year 7 students started last September.
They were based at purpose-built temporary accommodation at Hopwood Hall
College, around three miles away from the Edgar Wood Academy site. Those and
future students are now based at the completed school.
Wates secured the work through the DfE’s £3bn Modern Methods of Construction
Framework, to which it was appointed in January 2020. The framework is part of
a wider government move towards adopting innovative offsite construction
methods to deliver much-needed new schools across the country.
Dave
Saville, Managing Director, Wates Construction North, said: “Edgar Wood’s
completion provides a stellar example of how offsite construction can
revolutionise the delivery of education builds.
“The lessons learnt on this build will support both Wates’ other DfE
projects procured via the Modern Methods of Construction framework and help
champion the use of MMC on other schemes across the country. Delivering this
project efficiently was imperative to allow students to benefit from their
improved facilities as quickly as possible.
“We hope the students and staff enjoy their new school and we look forward
to our next completion as part of this framework.”
Another MMC scheme Wates is delivering through the DfE framework Star
Salford Academy off Longshaw Drive in Little Hulton is part of the ongoing
DfE’s Free School Programme. The six-acre site has been vacant since Hulton
High School was demolished in 2009.
Once complete, the Sheppard Robson-designed Star Salford Academy will house
750 pupils within a 62,000 sq ft two-storey building. In addition to teaching
spaces, there will also be a hard-court multi-use games area, all-weather
pitch, and sports hall facility.
Wates is aiming to complete construction in time for the start of the
2023-2024 academic year.
Other education sector projects Wates has delivered within the North West
include the 900-student Whitehaven Academy in Cumbria and the Hartford Church
of England School in Northwich.
