28 May 2010 07:00
INTERSERVE WINS £30m LEEDS WEST ACADEMY CONTRACT IN LEEDS BSF PROGRAMME
Interserve, the international services, maintenance and building group, has been awarded a £30 million contract to design and build the new Leeds West Academy for Leeds City Council. The project is being undertaken as part of the third phase of developments in the award-winning Leeds Building Schools for the Future programme.
The Academy, sponsored by E-ACT (Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust), will provide 1,200 places for pupils aged 11-16 and 300 for those over 16. It is being built on the site of the Intake High School Arts College in Bramley, to the west of the city. Intake High School (renamed as Leeds West Academy in September 2009) is currently operating in the existing facilities while the new Academy, comprising a mix of two- and three-storey buildings, sited so as to give views across the Aire Valley, is constructed within the school grounds. The new facilities are scheduled to open in September 2011 after which the old buildings will be demolished and the area will be re-landscaped to create a high quality, drained sports pitch.
The new school is designed around three hubs: Innovation, which will house science, technology, maths and ICT; Diversity, which will house all humanities, modern foreign languages and PE; and Communications, which will be home to English, performing arts and creative digital media arts. The Communications hub will also accommodate the main entrances, a striking feature library, a theatre space and a glazed dance studio.
David Paterson, Managing Director of Interserve Project Services, remarked, "We are creating a facility with the capacity to transform the life-chances of children in west Leeds. The educational understanding arising from the close working partnership between Interserve, Leeds Council and E-ACT means that the new Leeds West Academy, which is designed to help each child reach their individual potential, will be at the heart of the local community.
Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, said, "This is the latest example of Education Leeds transforming learning through state-of-the-art buildings and facilities. The new Leeds West Academy building will be another brilliant, 21st Century learning environment where children and young people can achieve success and reach their full potential."
Annette Hall, principal of the Leeds West Academy, commented, "This isn't just an investment in bricks and mortar, this is in the community and its young people.
"We believe that Leeds West will be a place which will inspire local young people for generations to come."
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For further information please contact:
Giles Scott 0118 960 2307
Head of Corporate Communications
Elizabeth Morley / Tom Roberts 020 7379 5151
Maitland
About Interserve
Interserve's vision is to be the Trusted Partner of all our stakeholders. We are one of the world's foremost support services and construction companies, operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. We offer advice, design, construction and facilities management services for society's infrastructure and provide a range of plant and equipment in specialist fields. Interserve is based in the UK. It has revenue of £1.9 billion and a workforce of 50,000 people worldwide
Education website: www.education.interserve.com.
General website: www.interserve.com
The Leeds BSF project is being delivered through the Leeds Local Education Partnership (LEP) which brings together Education Leeds, Leeds City Council and the Interserve-led consortium Environments 4 Learning to shape the most advances learning environments nationally. ICT experts, RM Education, are providing schools with the latest e-learning facilities to support and enhance teaching and learning. The Leeds LEP is managing the procurement process.
Leeds BSF schools provide:
* flexible and varied rooms and spaces, offering different environments for different styles of teaching and learning, and are capable of adapting to changes in the curriculum; * bright, open and safe spaces designed with young people, to engage young people; * fully inclusive facilities, giving every young person access to the learning, support and care they need; and * unique features reflecting the ethos of each school and the needs of the local young people, families and wider communities they serve.
Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery organisation for Building Schools for the Future. PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DCSF (formerly DfES) and Partnerships UK. PfS is a 100-strong organisation, with specialist expertise including educationalists, designers, ICT specialists, commercial managers and project management.
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