Planning permission for a new state-of-the-art secondary school in Manchester has been granted in a milestone moment for North East practice Space Architects.
The green light to get works underway signals the 100th project the Newcastle-based consultancy has led on in the past two decades, which have totalled £800million. Belle Vue Academy, sponsored by The Co-op, will cover 8,610sqm over three floors, highlighting the national growth of Space Architects and the scale of projects they’re being commissioned to lead on.
Paul Broadfoot, a Director at Space Architects who is heading up the Belle Vue Academy project, said: “It’s great news to receive planning permission for this brand-new school that will exemplify the very best in modern and sustainable design while meeting the needs of students and staff.
“It also marks another large-scale project for Space and strengthens our national presence in the design and build sector. Despite a challenging and disruptive period, our team is going from strength to strength, working with leading construction companies and some of the UK’s biggest public sector organisations on the most innovative and exciting projects as the sector remains firmly focused on building back better.”
The works for Belle Vue Academy will start this summer and Space have instructed Sir Robert McAlpine to build the school which will open in September 2021. Working closely with Manchester City Council, the school’s design has been created to a highly bespoke specification to suit current and future educational needs in the region.
Paul Broadfoot added: “Belle Vue Academy is just one of several significant projects we’re currently delivering, with work underway on a £1.4 million extension of St. Wilfrid’s RC College in South Shields and Orbit, Durham University’s new enterprise zone near NETPark.
“While our national reach has grown considerably, our heritage will always lie in the North East. Over the last few years, we’ve worked on a high number of iconic developments in the region including Cramlington Junior Learning Village, Darlington Hippodrome and The Rocket, a £23 million office complex for Clouston Group, based at Stephenson Quarter. The North East remains our strongest market, lying at the heart of our growth strategy, as we continue to expand nationally.”
For more information about the projects Space Architects are involved in, visit: https://www.spacearchitects.co.uk/projects