Silverstone finishes in Ponteland, starts in Hartlepool
The building consultancy, working with principal contractor Equans, has delivered a £1.9m facility for Northumberland College, and has also begun on a sixth form college facility, both projects for Education Partnership North East.
The Kirkley Hall campus in Ponteland has seen technical training facilities delivered, after Silverstone worked with EPNE to secure government money to fund them.
Silverstone was project manager, cost consultant and principal designer for a series of works, with the professional team also including JCP Consulting Engineers on M&E and Shed as structural engineer.
The project has seen an old sheep shed transformed into a modern sheep management centre, a former dairy demolished and turned into a new farm office and T Level classroom, a tractor workshop made into an engineering teaching facility and a dog grooming training facility created.
The new buildings will facilitate the teaching of technical T Level qualifications in agriculture, land management & production and animal care & management.
Facilities include a 360-degree immersive hub and training equipment such as bespoke dog baths and digital tagging for sheep.
Paul Wharton, director at Silverstone Building Consultancy, said: “We have really enjoyed working on this project – it’s been really interesting learning about and understanding exactly what the College needs and researching all the technical specifications required for the different subject areas.”
A mock boardroom is among the facilities to be created at Hartlepool. Credit: via Bradley O’Mahoney
Elsewhere in the region, Silverstone has started work to develop a new technical learning facility at Hartlepool Sixth Form College, again after working with EPNE on the funding process.
Silverstone is principal designer and project manager for a £400,000 refurbishment which will see a library and ancillary rooms turned into a classroom, a replica boardroom and collaborative learning hub to facilitate teaching of a T Level qualification in legal services.
The 2,150 sq ft building, supported by the Department for Education’s T Level Capital Fund, will allow 40 students aged between 16 and 18 learn skills for a career in the legal sector, per year.
Silverstone has appointed Necco as M&E consultant and MJ Phoenix as principal contractor for the project.
Wharton said: “We played a key role in helping the college successfully win funding to develop this facility and have previously developed a similar learning hub for Sunderland College.
“The Hartlepool Sixth Form College facility will provide learners with skills that are valuable to employers and it will be a boost for the region, particularly when employing and recruiting a skilled workforce remains a challenge across most sectors.”
The work is due to complete in autumn this year.
