Speller Metcalfe will build Hereford’s Centre for Advanced Timber Technology (CATT) , one of three buildings comprising the New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering (NMITE) on the town’s Skylon Campus.
The necessary £6.7m funding has been secured by the insitute from the Local Growth Fund.
The contractor was appointed through via the Pagabo medium works framework. Construction of CATT will begin early next year and is scheduled for completion in spring 2022.
The building itself will be constructed of a mix of traditional oak, glulam and cross-laminated timber and has been designed by Hereford-based oak-framed building specialists, Oakwrights.
Stuart Brisbane, head of estates at NMITE, said: “Throughout the tight procurement process Speller Metcalfe demonstrated not only a passion for the Hereford area and a commitment to local spending but a real understanding of NMITE including offering some exciting and imaginative ways to use this building project to offer hands on learning opportunities including co-production workshops and online learning tools for our future learners.”
Head of partnerships Toby Kinnaird added: “Together with our partners we fully intend to create a flexible space focussed on the progression of timber manufacturing and advanced production techniques, innovation and creativity that can evolve over time to inspire and train many future generations. And as a future innovative higher education provider we will continue to collaborate with industry, ensuring that our education and training is of a high standard, forward thinking and relevant.”
The institute has also appointed RRA Architects to design its planned Centre for Automated Manufacturing (CAM), one of the other three buildings that forms the NMITE campus. The third is a Centre for Future Skills (CFS), a large flexible industrial space for developing and testing different technologies.
Herefordshire Council leader Cllr David Hitchiner said: “It is great to see NMITE’s Skylon Campus moving towards fruition. The new jobs this will create, as well as the cutting-edge learning opportunities for future learners is great news for our local economy which, like the rest of the country, is still working hard to mitigate and overcome the impact of Covid-19.”
NMITE’s Skylon Campus is due to be completed in 2022.
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