Hull sports college gets £19m upgrade from Morgan Sindall

The contract is the latest stage of the £400m Hull Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The new build and refurbishment project involves the construction of a new 70,000 sq ft teaching block, designed by Capita Symonds. It will comprise 12 humanities classrooms, six sixth form classrooms, 14 state-of-the-art science laboratories, 7,500 sq ft art and design space, a food technology classroom, two ICT suites and a learning resource centre.  

As a specialist sports college, St Mary’s College will get a new 11,840 sq ft sports block with three sports science classrooms, an all-weather pitch and multi-use games area. The new campus building will also include a new 300-seat theatre with a fly tower, allowing stage scenery to be raised and lowered during performances. This is one of the first to be installed in a UK education establishment.

Because of the large amount of glazing and south facing frontage in its design, the new building will use thermal modelling and solar controlled glazing to maintain a steady internal temperature.

Morgan Sindall northeast construction managing director Gordon Ray said: “The project at St Mary’s College is the latest step in Hull’s largest regeneration scheme which is continuing to transform the education facilities in the city, providing state-of-the-art learning environments for generations to come. Not only are we refurbishing the traditional subject classrooms such as English and Maths, with the new build we are providing an inspirational place of learning - upgrading the facilities of the college’s more specialist areas such as sports, sciences, drama, arts, ICT and media to create a highly specialised learning hub.”

He added: “We will be aiming to work with approximately 50 subcontractors and recruit up to 15 apprentices throughout the lifetime of the project.”

Morgan Sindall completed work on the first two schools to be delivered under the Hull BSF scheme last year - the £33m Archbishop Sentamu Academy and the £38m Winifred Holtby and Tweendykes School. The firm is also close to completion at three further school construction contracts, worth a total of £64.5m. These are at Kingswood College of Arts, Oakfield Special School and Andrew Marvell College.

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