Construction National

Celebration at new engineering centre

Kirklees College, Kirklees Council and GMI Construction have celebrated the completion of the highest point of construction at the college’s new Engineering Centre.

Visitors from the college, council and contractors working on the building all attended the Topping Out ceremony to tour the building and unveil a special plaque.

The centre will open to students in September 2012 and will host specialist engineering and motor vehicle courses. The building will have first class facilities and will house maintenance and fabrication workshops, CNC and mechanical workshops, five demonstration area, 13 classrooms, a student refectory and offices for staff.

In line with the government’s priority to re-invigorate the engineering industry, the college will offer state of the art facilities and courses in the latest engineering technologies such as wind turbine technology in this purpose-built facility in Huddersfield.

GMI Construction, the main contractors for the £7.5million centre is scheduled to hand over the building to the college in May 2012. Before the plaque was unveiled and in front of approximately 50 workers covering a variety of trades, tributes were paid to the hard work of the team on the ground.

Andrew Schofield, Contracts Manager for GMI Construction said:
“We’ve reached an exciting stage in the construction of this building. We are now at a point where you can feel what the environment is going to be like for students and it’s looking really good.”

Chair of governors at Kirklees College, Jeff Dakers said:
“On behalf of the college I’d like to pay tribute to the workers on this site. I’m extremely impressed with how well you’ve done to get this far in such a quick timescale. Today is a great opportunity to celebrate the fact that we have reached this stage of the construction. This building is for the future. All buildings make statements, and what is being built here is a statement about the future of engineering in our area.
“This centre will give us the chance to boost the manufacturing sector in the north. This area is steeped in history of the industrial revolution of the past. It’s time to focus on the future and with the unique partnership we have with the local authority, we have been able to help build that future.”

Leader of Kirklees Council, Councillor Mehboob Khan said:
“GMI are a fantastic local firm and the college has a strong partnership with the council. This building symbolises ambition. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the college because we have a strong belief in the future of Kirklees.”

A special plaque was unveiled commemorating the day. The plaque is made from corten, the material that has been used on large external panels of the building and is designed to rust over time and then stabilise. Architect Richard Lockey from Kilmartin Plowman explained that this would give the building a rich coppery colour and give the building an engineering and motor vehicle feel.

The Engineering Centre is based on Turnbridge Road, just off St Andrew’s Road in Huddersfield. It is being built in addition to the college’s new Huddersfield Centre at the Waterfront Quarter, also due to open in the Autumn. The two new buildings will replace the college’s New North Road site which is currently up for sale.