Continued growth in student accommodation developments has added further to contract wins at leading national engineering specialist SES Engineering Services (SES), as it announces its latest contract in the sector on a £31m scheme in Durham.
Following its appointment in February to Vita Student Village, York and involvement on Vita’s prestigious Westgate development, opposite Newcastle’s Central Station, SES has recently been awarded a £3.1m contract as part of the conversion of the former County Hospital site on North Road.
Working with the main contractor, Bowmer and Kirkland and for developer Peveril Securities, SES will provide a complete range of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services on this new multi-million pound 358-bed student accommodation. Furthermore, SES will install CCTV, security and access controls and data services as well as building management systems.
This latest development will see the conversion of the Harding Building, a listed Victorian structure, creating 82 modern student studios, while more recent extensions to the building are to be demolished to make way for two new buildings to accommodate 276 student flats. The project will inject new life into a site that has been dormant since 2010, following the closure of the hospital.
Since 2014, SES’ northern team has been responsible for delivering an extensive range of building services on some 2,447 student-beds across the North East and Yorkshire.
According to Steve Joyce, SES’ Business Director North, the company’s extensive experience of delivering schemes in this booming sector, make SES best placed to work on this latest contract. He said: “We have an excellent track record for successfully delivering highly serviced buildings of this type and I am delighted to be adding to the list with this latest scheme. While on site we will face a number of challenges, particularly in relation to the spatial fit of the building services in the existing listed building. However, we will overcome these while at the same time ensure our work is carried out in line with listed building guidelines.
“Regarding the new build phases, whilst I expect that they will be more straightforward they will still benefit from the same care and attention to detail as the main building, ensuring a consistently high level of building services are designed and installed across the whole site.“
Once on site, SES will be working to a 45 week build schedule with project completion anticipated for April 2018.
Speaking about the development, Bowmer and Kirkland’s M&E Manager for the North East, Neil Charlton, said: “This major scheme involves the renovation of a landmark building in the city of Durham and construction of two new buildings – all of which present their own different challenges.
“We are working closely with SES and all our contractors to ensure each phase of construction is delivered on time, to budget and to our clients’ utmost satisfaction.”