New healthcare and education projects are underway for Tilbury Douglas and Willmott Dixon as construction starts on SEND school in Leamington Spa, and Tilbury Douglas completes construction of the Urgent & Emergency Care Centre for Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
The £61m Oakley SEND school in Leamington Spa is currently underway as part of Warwickshire County Council’s plans to make major additions to the community’s education provisions, whilst Tilbury Douglas has completed a £40m healthcare facility in Walsall.
The Walsall Urgent & Emergency Care Centre was procured through the ProCure22 Framework
The Walsall Urgent & Emergency Care Centre will provide the Trust with 4,864m2 additional clinical space, an Urgent Treatment Centre, a Paediatric Assessment Unit, an Acute Medical Unit and a Medical Ambulatory Unit.
The facility will open to the public in early March to help the Trust meet local demand, caring for up to 90,000 urgent admissions annually.
During the project, Tilbury Douglas supported 832 weeks of apprentice training, 53 weeks of work placements, and over £22m spent with local supply chains within 30 miles of Walsall.
Assisting Walsall Healthcare in improving patient experience
Simon Butler, managing director of building central at Tilbury Douglas, commented: “It is great to see the completion of the new high-quality, modern development, that will assist Walsall Healthcare in improving the patient experience and allowing for greater flexibility for the future.”
The healthcare facility is the most substantial investment the Trust has seen
Will Roberts, director of operations and deputy chief operating officer at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, added: “All of us who have been involved in this massive project have been counting down the months, weeks and now days until we can finally move into this fantastic new environment.
“This is the most substantial investment our Trust has ever seen and we can’t wait to start delivering our services from this much improved environment that will help us to provide the first-class healthcare provision that our patients and families deserve.”
Work commences on £61m SEND school in Warwickshire
The Oakley Grove SEND school was secured through the Scape construction framework and will comprise 34-place nursery, 420-place primary and 900-place secondary school with SEND provision.
Construction of the new school facilities will be completed in summer 2024, with Oakley School pupils taking occupation at the start of term in September 2024.
Willmott Dixon will invest heavily in the local community, £1.5m committed through social value activities such as delivering careers talks, work experience, traineeships for those not in employment, education or training and creating local job opportunities.
A major investment into the next generation of Warwickshire’s education
Michelle Cotterill, director for Willmott Dixon, commented: “The Oakley School project is a major investment into the next generation of Warwickshire’s education offering and we are proud to have been selected alongside our delivery partners to bring the development to fruition.
“As a cornerstone employer with Coventry and Warwickshire Careers Enterprise we’re looking forward to engaging with other schools and delivering careers talks and guidance, curriculum support, safety talks, site visits, CV advice, mock interviews, work experience and much more to support the local community.”
The facility has adopted a fabric-first approach to reduce energy consumption and limit carbon emissions in operation. It will feature air-source heat pumps and PV panels as part of a renewable energy strategy.
‘A state-of-the-art facility that will be the hub of superb learning opportunities’
Cllr Kam Kaur, Warwickshire’s portfolio holder for education, said: “The investment in the all-through school at Oakley Grove demonstrates a huge commitment by the County Council to education in that area and to meeting the massive increase in need for school places that we will soon be seeing.
“As well as providing a state-of-the-art facility that will be the hub of superb learning opportunities, the project is also delivering a great deal of social value, particularly for some young people who are gaining valuable training, employment opportunities and other work experience. We are grateful to Willmott Dixon for sharing our commitment to that.
“Similarly, we are very pleased that the building of the school has included environmental factors and the school will be a low carbon setting which is in line with the Council’s own commitment to reducing carbon emissions.”
