Balfour Beatty to Construct $382M Manchester Engineering Campus Development

Balfour Beatty has been formally awarded the $382-million contract by The University of Manchester to construct the Manchester Engineering Campus Development located in England.

The four-year project forms an essential part of the University of Manchester’s 10-year campus master plan to create an estate benefiting staff, students and visitors. This will support the university’s strategic goals of creating world-class research, providing an outstanding learning environment, student experience and social responsibility.

MECD will provide a state-of-the-art facility, housing the university’s engineering schools, innovative teaching spaces and research institutes such as the Dalton Nuclear Institute and the BP- International Centre for Advanced Materials. It will consolidate the majority of the university’s estate onto one main campus, creating a more compact and coherent infrastructure that reduces the institution’s carbon footprint and costs. MECD will also free up considerable land holdings in the north of the campus, contributing to the future economic success of the city with redevelopment opportunities in a prime city center location.

Upon completion, the facility will benefit from green construction techniques resulting in smart energy consumption and advanced water recycling and waste systems. The development will host a wide range of flexible high-specification laboratories and lecture spaces to welcome up to 7,000 students and 1,300 staff. MECD will also incorporate blended learning facilities, workshops and a “maker space” where students will see their engineering creations come to life.

At peak construction, the project will employ a workforce of 1,000, including multiple apprenticeships and graduate placements. The project will also create new job opportunities for unemployed local people through the university’s Construction Academy, which provides local residents with exposure to career opportunities in the construction sector. The project team will maximize the use of offsite manufacture and the latest in BIM technology to optimize construction efficiency and deliver a smart facility of the highest standard.

Balfour Beatty was appointed to the university’s Construction Partnering Framework in May 2015 and has been working under a pre-construction services agreement since November 2015, enabling design development and early engagement with key supply chain partners.