Lea Hough’s Education team have helped to secure funding for a new six storey expansion project at Rochdale Sixth Form College. Lea Hough prepared and submitted a bid for the project, which will provide 18 additional classrooms, via the Post-16 Capacity Fund 2023 to 2024. The new facilities at the college, which is part of the college is part of Altus Education Partnership, will provide teaching spaces for a further 360 students and 19 staff.
The exciting expansion project to the existing building will add approximately 2250m2 GEA of additional teaching accommodation, with the new classrooms being predominantly non-specialist teaching and learning accommodation, with breakout facilities and learning zones. The new space will provide staff facilities and offices for support staff, along with a flexible layout to the upper floors, with provision of moveable walls to form larger spaces to accommodate exams, etc.
The project value is circa £7.9 Million, with £4 million in funding obtained via the Department for Education’s Post-16 capacity fund 2023 to 2024.
Richard Ronksley, CEO of Altus Education Partnership, of which Rochdale Sixth Form College is a member, said:
“This is an incredible success story for the college and the area. RSFC is an Ofsted Outstanding College, Sixth Form College of the Year 2021, and regularly one of the top-performing sixth form colleges in the country. The new building will ensure that we will be able to meet increasing demographic growth in the area and provide even more young people with an excellent education and help them go on to do amazing things and lead happy, fulfilling lives.
“A word also on our chartered surveyors Lea Hough. They have been instrumental in enabling us to secure the £4 million grant from the DfE. They have been with us every step of the way – liaising with external agencies, putting together the bid, and getting us through planning. Their professional and personable manner means they have been easy to work with, insightful, and reliable. I could not recommend them more highly to anyone looking to expand their estate”.
The size, scale and complexity of the project meant a significant investment of time in the preparation and submission of the bid. Our role involves many aspects, initially as school building consultants to help prepare and submit the bid under the Post-16 Capacity Fund, and now the funding has been obtained, in an ongoing capacity as Project Manager.
A project of this nature involves bringing together a team of professionals, including an architect, structural engineers, flood & geotechnical consultants, quantity surveyors and planning consultant, etc. Our team managed the process, overseeing the progress of the Planning Application.
Securing Planning Permission for such a large extension is an achievement in itself; requiring a lot of hard work from the project team, involving extensive liaison with the Environment Agency. To achieve Planning Permission, the architect also has had to prepare 3D video/visuals for the Planning Officer, which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/7LeoUBZqgUI
Now that the project has obtained Planning Permission and funding approval, Lea Hough will now coordinate and procure the project and seek tenders. During the construction phase, our role will be to oversee the works and administer the contract.
Rochdale Sixth Form College has an Outstanding OFSTED rating as requires the additional space due to rising pupil numbers. https://www.rochdalesfc.ac.uk/82/ofsted
Lea Hough would like to thank the project team for their contributions:
- Architect – ABW Architects Ltd
- M&E Services Engineer – Rosiben
- Structural Engineer – Waterman Structures
- Flood & Geotechnical Consultants – Waterman Group
- Transport Consultant – Waterman Group
- Cost Consultant – Donald Lomax & Partners Ltd.
- BREEAM Assessor – Ridge and Partners
- Ecology Consultant – ERAP
- CDM Advisors – Skelton Ward
- Planning Consultant – Smith & Love
- Fire Consultant – OFR Consultants
