Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has been awarded a £42 million contract to design and build new student accommodation to provide 726 bedrooms for the University of Birmingham.
The contract to deliver the ‘Chamberlain Halls’ halls of residence involves the demolition and re-building of the existing Eden Tower and the build of a new 20-storey tower, together with three linear ‘finger’ buildings situated along Church Road in Edgbaston.
By fully deploying its range of capabilities, Balfour Beatty will deliver the project in just 100 weeks. The company will utilise BIM (Building Information Management) for the planning of the project, providing value-engineering and long term management solutions. Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering will carry out piling with Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, through its Modular Systems+ facility in Wednesbury, providing bespoke pre-fabricated mechanical and electrical units housing ducting, cabling and pipe-work for the building which can be installed quickly on-site further reducing the construction time. Furniture for the bedrooms and communal areas will be provided by Footprint Furniture, a Balfour Beatty company.
The building will meet the highest Government approved EPC ‘A’ category for energy efficiency through the use of brick cladding for insulation, a copper rainscreen and glazed curtain walling to reduce heat loss.
This contract award builds on Balfour Beatty’s consistently strong performance in the student accommodation sector for which it has recently been awarded schemes at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Bangor and University of Exeter as well as for student accommodation providers Urbanest and Unite.
Tony Dixon, Managing Director of Construction at Balfour Beatty Construction Services UK said: “This scheme for the University of Birmingham builds on our significant portfolio of work in the student accommodation sector.
“Through the extensive use of BIM and support from our specialist teams across our business, we will deliver a high quality and great value for money scheme which will achieve some of the highest levels of energy efficiency, reducing whole life costs of the facility.”
Ian Barker, Director of Estates at the University of Birmingham, said: “The University is committed to providing the highest quality facilities for students, staff and visitors to campus. This project forms an important part of our drive to make the University more environmentally sustainable - building on the 20% reduction in carbon emissions that we have achieved to date. We were impressed by the work which Balfour Beatty has done in this sector and are delighted to have appointed their experts to carry out work on the new Chamberlain Halls of Residence.”
Construction is scheduled for completion in the winter of 2015.