CLEGG construction has begun work on a £13.25 million student accommodation project – its largest current student development scheme. The project will provide accommodation for 437 students at Selly Oaks in Birmingham.
Clegg Construction was awarded the contract, where three steel frame blocks of eight, six and five storey flats will be built for The Student Development Partnership after winning it through a competitive tender process.
Clegg has previously worked for the partnership’s operator Victoria Hall on its Nottingham and Leicester student residences, but this project is the largest build and budget Clegg Construction has been given by the client.
Simon Blackburn, managing director at Clegg Construction, said: “We’re thrilled that Victoria Hall has come back to us for this project, they are an excellent client to work for. We’ve built a really successful relationship with the developers over the years and this build is their most challenging brief to date.
“Not only is it a large-scale project, but the building site is very restricted. It is bound by the new Selly Oaks bypass, a railway line and a brook. Therefore careful planning was required to ensure that we make the most of the space available for the building works so that logistically, the site restrictions did not hinder the space required for the construction.”
The project is still in its very early stages. So far Clegg Construction has completed a reduced level excavation of the site and begun removing any ground contamination and has started to lay the foundations for the three blocks of flats. The residences were designed by O’Connell East architects. Special requirements of the build include flood defence works and it has a ‘very good’ BREEM environmental rating. Victoria Hall is not the only student developer Clegg Construction has worked with over the years and they are establishing a reputation as experts in student living developments.
Other large-scale Clegg Construction student accommodation schemes include the completion of the £20 million Faraday Road development, which created 870 student bedrooms and the current £3.5million Study Inn halls - both projects are in Nottingham.