All Network Rail operations in the region will be run from the new base. The three-storey, steel-framed building is designed to achieve a BREEAM Very Good rating and is due to be completed by December 2013.
The building is a composite structure and includes a variety of specialist design and construction methods and techniques. These include the use of laminated, strengthened glass panels and curtain wall cladding.
A key feature of the building will be its ‘green roof’, which will be planted with sedum vegetation to absorb rainwater and provide insulation. The building is also highly insulated to avoid energy wastage.
The development will see around 110 people working on site at the peak of construction, including a number of specialist contractors.
Morgan Sindall area director James Morgan said: “We are delighted to have won this significant contract which is a testament to the combined expertise of our Rail and Construction teams.
“Our collaborative and full Building Information Modelling (BIM) level two approach will deliver a bespoke solution to Network Rail and provide them with a state-of-the-art home for many years to come.”
Morgan Sindall has won several rail projects this year, including an £8m contract to refurbish the subsurface platforms of Liverpool’s underground stations, a £9m project to install a system to cool the platform areas at Green Park Tube Station and a £13m contract to extend and enhance Centro’s Wednesbury depot in preparation for the arrival of a new fleet of trams.
The contractors is also working on the C350 Pudding Mill Lane contract that it won last year and is worth in the region of £50m. This will link the new Crossrail tunnels to the Network Rail infrastructure in the London Borough of Newham. In August 2011, a joint venture between Morgan Sindall and Colas Rail was appointed to Network Rail’s Enhancements Multi Asset Framework Agreement (MAFA) to carry out rail improvement works on the Western route, the anticipated turnover for this work is £150m and will run until April 2014.
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