ISG - Offices Development - Leicester, ISG To Relocate Leicester's Gateway College In £24 Million Development

Date: 02 Oct 2007

ISG has been selected as the preferred construction partner for a circa £24 million project to relocate Gateway College in central Leicester to new purpose-built facilities on a 12-acre site in Hamilton, to the north of the city. The move will increase capacity at the highly regarded Sixth Form College to 1,500 students, 250 more places than currently available.

The flexible design of the new college sees the construction of three-storey steel frame curriculum hubs connecting to a 90 m long central covered street area - providing approximately 11,300 sq m of modern teaching accommodation. Facilities include individual hubs for Art and English, Business, IT and Science & Maths, a theatre, large sports hall, specialist facilities for students with special learning difficulties and disabilities (SLDD) and learners with learning difficulties or disabilities (LLDD), and a student services area with canteen and coffee shop.

Additional sporting facilities include a full size outdoor football pitch and two floodlit Mixed Use Games Areas (MUGAs). Designed to be a self-contained unit, the sports hub will become a key community facility and can be used out of hours, providing an additional revenue stream for the college.

The new building is highly sustainable and incorporates an on site biomass boiler, rainwater harvesting system and wind turbines, with low energy lighting and under floor heating throughout the college. Externally, the college will feature render panels and curtain walling to its façade, with aluminium windows and a standing seam metal roof. ISG will form a large paved area to the front of the building along with extensive car parking, as well as a range of hard and soft landscaping finishes across the site. The project is due to commence in early 2008, with completion scheduled for summer 2009.

Craig Tatton, managing director of ISG's regional business, commented: "The new Gateway College reflects a major investment in Leicester's educational resources and the purpose-built facility will undoubtedly become a landmark regional building. Working closely and engaging with the local community is an important consideration for the college and we are confident that bringing state-of-the-art sporting amenities to Hamilton will prove a highly attractive proposition to the local population."

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