Silverstone Building Consultancy starts on site at Hartlepool Sixth Form College
Silverstone Building Consultancy has started work to develop a new technical learning facility at Hartlepool Sixth Form College after successfully helping its client, Education Partnership North East (EPNE), secure government money to fund it.
Silverstone is principal designer and project manager for a £400,000 refurbishment which will see a library and ancillary rooms turned into a state-of-the-art classroom, a replica boardroom and collaborative learning hub to facilitate teaching of a T Level qualification in Legal Services.
The 2,150 sq. ft. building, supported by the Department for Education’s T Level Capital Fund (TLCF), will allow 40 students aged between 16 and 18 learn skills for a career in the legal sector, per year.
It will ensure the college and its T Level curriculum can grow in alignment with the evolving needs of industry across the Northeast.
The facility boasts high-tech immersive digital training equipment designed to recreate a real-world industry environment.
Silverstone Building Consultancy is a specialist firm of chartered building surveyors and project managers, with offices in Newcastle, Leeds and London. The firm has appointed Necco as mechanical and engineering consultants and MJ Pheonix as principal contractor for the project.
Paul Wharton, director at Silverstone Building Consultancy, said: “We played a key role in helping the college successfully win funding to develop this facility and have previously developed a similar learning hub for Sunderland College. We are also project managing several other T Level teaching facilities for another further education college in the region.
“The Hartlepool Sixth Form College facility will provide learners with skills that are valuable to employers and it will be a boost for the region, particularly when employing and recruiting a skilled workforce remains a challenge across most sectors.”
The work is due to complete in Autumn 2024.
Steve Brown, executive director of Capital Projects & Estates at EPNE, said: “We have really valued Silverstone’s expertise in understanding our unique requirements and designing the facility. They’ve effectively translated our dream teaching environment into a package of works that locally sourced contractors can deliver. We’re excited to see it finished and to start welcoming budding lawyers through the doors.”
