Brighton Metropolitan College
Sector: Education
Framework: SCAPE Construction framework
Client: Brighton Metropolitan College
Location: Brighton, UK
Value: £30m over two phases
Completion: Summer 2024
“These two big projects have given the college a fantastic future that will bring important skills to thousands in the important creative and digital industries, while also future-proofing a large existing teaching block. Our team’s experience working on live campuses ensured the college continued operating smoothly, and we’re delighted to have played a key role in this important development.”
Richard Poulter
Managing Director, South, Willmott Dixon
Two phases of projects have helped transform Brighton Metropolitan College's popular Pelham Street site.
Operating across five campuses, Brighton Metropolitan College (MET) offers a comprehensive range of vocational qualifications for 16–19-year-olds, university degrees, full-time and part-time courses for adults, apprenticeships and professional qualifications. To help them nurture talent in a fast-growing sector, a new state-of-the-art building, the Centre for Creative and Digital Industries, has been delivered, along with other improvements, at the college’s Pelham Street site.
A project delivered by Willmott Dixon across two phases via the SCAPE Construction framework, the redevelopment will now support Brighton’s burgeoning creative and digital economy as a regional training hub for young professionals and career changers alike.
For phase one, the project delivered a 3,000m² three-storey extension to serve as a modern and welcoming ‘shopfront’ for the college. It also updated and improved public access to all college facilities, created a large public space with secure bike storage for students, staff and visitors and delivered advanced studios and classrooms for digital and creative learning.
After completing phase one, Willmott Dixon was appointed for the next phase of work which involved over-cladding the main teaching block to improve the energy efficiency of the building.
A fabric-first approach was taken, including installing new windows and maximising the performance of the components that make up the building. The over-cladding acts as a ‘second skin’, enhancing the building’s durability and longevity. Additionally, it helps ensure the building is ‘future-climate ready’ as part of Willmott Dixon’s Now or Never strategy.
The college needed to remain fully operational throughout both phases of work, so the project team drew on extensive experience to minimise disruption and keep the campus and courses running as usual during the construction phase.
Supported by a Local Growth Funding grant of £5 million awarded by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), phase one’s extension project has become a template for driving forward regional economic growth.
The new and improved Pelham Street site is a space for students to learn and grow for years to come.
3,000m²
three-storey extension
£5m
Local Growth Funding grant
£30m
project value over two phases
In collaboration with:
Meet the lead:
Vanessa Good
Business Development Manager | South East
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