Tolent has been awarded a £15m contract to build the HICSA skills academy in Sunderland, which will provide ‘next generation skills for next generation homes’
Tolent has been awarded the contract to design and construct the Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA), a training facility that will provide ‘next generation skills for next generation homes’ and support the city’s advanced manufacturing, carbon reduction and renewable energy ambitions.
Sunderland City Council has appointed the contractor to progress with the building, which will be led by Sunderland College to educate and upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes, the first of which will be assembled at Riverside Sunderland.
Planning consent was granted in March and construction will begin later this year
The facility, which will re-purpose the existing goods shed on the corner of Hay Street, will be operated by Sunderland College with support from education and industry partners such as the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education (MOBIE), which is led by Washington-born TV architect, George Clark.
It will enable Sunderland people to meet the city’s future housing needs, with the skill and expertise to employ modern methods of construction.
The development has been backed by the Government’s Levelling Up Fund – with £20m committed to supporting the city’s housing ecosystem, including £9m of support for HICSA.
The HICSA skills academy will help make Sunderland a leader in skills, MMC and retrofit
Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “I’m pleased that we have appointed a construction partner able to help us drive forward with a development that is of huge significance to the city – a development that will fuel the development of construction skills that will make Sunderland a leader in MMC and retrofit.
“With Tolent working on the development of the first housing scheme on Vaux too, it is quite fitting that they will also be building the training academy that will develop skills to help us deliver future phases of residential development at Riverside Sunderland.”
CEO of Tolent, Paul Webster, said: “We’re delighted to have been appointed to construct this trailblazing academy that will help nurture the next generation of skilled people, who will build homes of the future in Sunderland.
“The talent that emerges from HICSA will no doubt power our own future skills pipeline, so we’re pleased to be playing a part in bringing this important project forward.”
Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of Sunderland College and Education Partnership North East, said: “I am grateful to Sunderland City Council and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for supporting this vision.
“A significant increase in training provision is needed for all skills and roles across the construction and energy sectors if we are to build homes of the future, and support the UK’s low carbon ambitions. HICSA will be a key part of the ecosystem.”
Expo Sunderland will showcase regeneration and redevelopment plans in the area
HICSA is one of several projects that are incorporated in the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan, which sets out a development framework for this new urban quarter, from the former Vaux Brewery site to Keel Square to Sheepfolds.
Expo Sunderland is also part of the plan, helping to engage and inspire industry and local people in the delivery of innovative homes on the site, and positioning Sunderland as a world-class place to live, work and play.
The event will take place in 2024.
