Sir Robert McAlpine has announced practical completion of a new East Manchester co-educational school, Co-op Academy Belle Vue
Sir Robert McAlpine is celebrating the practical completion of Co-op Academy Belle Vue in East Manchester, with the school opening this week (13 January 2022).
Formerly a 12.6-acre brownfield site hosting a Showcase Cinema, the new co-educational school will be home to 1,200 pupils when full and consists of a main three-storey building including reception, community hub, library and dining hall, with a teaching block and adjoining drama block.
The Co-op Academy Belle Vue hosts sports facilities available to the local community
The new Co-op Academy Belle Vue also boasts a two-storey sports block with Sports England-standard pitches and a multi-use games area behind it that will accommodate a range of sports including tennis and basketball and training for netball and hockey.
The sports block was built with separate access for the wider East Manchester community, and both school and community will be served by Co-op Academy Belle Vue’s new 140-space car park with electric charging points and play area.
Construction students were able to come onsite and gain hands-on experience
Sir Robert McAlpine worked closely with an array of stakeholders on the project, from sub-contractors to the Co-op Academies Trust.
With the end user in mind, principles of education and community engagement guided the project at all stages.
Sir Robert McAlpine hosted two students at a time from a nearby construction college to provide practical hands-on site experience during the build, and it supported subcontractor Marlborough in providing bricklaying demonstrations at a local college, in a move to help address the current skills gap.
In addition, the project was named ‘Best Framework Collaboration Project’ at the Pagabo awards last year alongside Faithful+Gould and Manchester City Council.
The Co-op Academy Belle Vue development is a testament to collaboration
Paul Quinn, Sir Robert McAlpine’s regional director – North West & Yorkshire, commented, “We are proud to deliver this new state-of-the-art school for East Manchester. The project is testament to the cooperation and positivity of our teams. Spaces for young people and communities to come together, learn and thrive are so important, and we hope East Manchester enjoys all that Belle Vue has to offer.”
Jonathan Parker, head of construction at Pagabo, said: “I’m delighted to see this fantastic project reach completion, with the state-of-the-art facilities now ready for students to take advantage of. Manchester City Council engaged with Pagabo to appoint both a consultant and contractor for the scheme. The collaboration between the entire project team has been clear to see from day one and is a huge reason why they were recognised for this at our yearly awards ceremony in 2022.”
