The University of Warwick’s Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) is a world class research facility, remarkable for its extensive use of offsite manufacture which ensured it could be delivered to quality and timescale, whilst also being highly sustainable. The project was built on a JCT Design and Build Contract. The IBRB is a £33m project providing a state-of-the-art facility on the University of Warwick’s Gibbet Hall campus. It was designed by Hawkins Brown Architects and Fairhurst Design Group. The main contractor was Wilmott Dixon. Apropos…

A two-year project to restore a Grade II* Listed 19th century Synagogue and build a new extension adding a range of facilities, has delivered an upgrade to the Manchester Jewish Museum that puts the local community at its heart. With a complex mix of restoration, new build, and the installation of various specialist services, a JCT Standard Building Contract was the form of choice. An out-of-town trunk road surrounded by busy retail parks, storage warehouses, and builders’ merchants, seems an unlikely place for a museum….

The Museum of the Home (MotH) in Hoxton, London, is open after three years of redevelopment. The project included the renovation of a 300 year old almshouse and the creation of newly built elements to reimagine the visitor experience. The transformation was designed by Wright & Wright Architects and used a JCT Standard Building Contract. The original building that houses the MotH started life in the 18th Century as an almshouse. Its career as a museum began in 1914 when the almshouse was converted to…

The Imperial War Museum’s (IWM) new office headquarters, known as Parkside, combines cutting edge offsite construction and the latest in architectural design to deliver a high-performance building with traditional touches that respect its local surroundings. The building provides a new hub for the IWM to continue its mission to improve public understanding of war and conflict through its exhibitions, events, and programming. A JCT Design and Build Contract was the form of choice. Parkside is a three-storey modular block that provides office space for the…

Built on a JCT Design and Build Contract and completed ahead of schedule in March last year, the Tameside Wellness Centre in Denton, Greater Manchester, is the crowning glory of a 12-acre residential, retail, and health development to transform a local community. The launch of the Tameside Wellness Centre in March 2020 was the culmination of a two-decade journey for Warrington-based developer, Network Space, to transform a derelict brownfield site and provide much needed regeneration – reinvigorating and giving a fresh identity to the local…

London’s last surviving working mill gets an upgrade with a new community centre, built on a JCT Intermediate Contract. The new community centre at Brixton Windmill has been a project many years in the planning for the Friends of Windmill Hill (FoWH), which was completed last year with funding from Lambeth Council. The charity is responsible for the preservation and maintenance of the Grade II listed windmill, the last remaining working flour mill in London. The brief for the new community centre was to provide…

This residential property, built for a British-raised Kenyan working for the UN, combines a mixture of renovation, extension, and smart sourcing of labour and materials to provide luxury on a budget. Key to saving costs was the use of a JCT Minor Works Building Contract with contractor’s design. The large site for this property, set in well-healed Nairobi suburb, already contained a bungalow which presented two initial challenges. Firstly, budget precluded the option to completely remove the structure and secondly, the undesirable aspect of the…

The site of Wroughton Academy in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, was for many years shared by separate junior and infant schools. Having come under the same management recently, a project was commissioned to create a cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure to link the two buildings. A JCT Intermediate Building Contract with contractor’s design was the form of choice. The new CLT building symbolises the merging of the two schools under the Wroughton Academy umbrella by providing a new front and central focus point to the school, securely…

The activity centre at St George’s College, Weybridge, was built to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1,000-pupil co-ed school. It places the needs of its students and the local community at its heart, with strong sustainable credentials and a number of modern features. Extensive use of VR in the design provided vital stakeholder engagement. A JCT Design and Build Contract was the contract solution. Design by Scott Brownrigg, with Blenheim House Construction as the main contractor, the new activity centre at St George’s college,…