York’s Portakabin Group wins £14m London UTC construction contract

York-based Portakabin Group has secured the £14m design and build contract for the UK’s first university technical college (UTC) to be built off site.

Opening in September 2016 in the London Borough of Hillingdon, the Global Academy will provide academic and vocational training for 14-19 year olds who want to work in the broadcast and digital media industries.

Designed by the Portakabin Group and architects Surface to Air, the building’s design is intended to reflect the creative ethos of the new Global Academy.

Advanced off-site technology using a Yorkon building solution from the Portakabin Group will integrate both modular and site-based construction. A significant proportion of the work will be completed off site at the Portakabin Group factory in York in order to be completed in time for the start of the 2016-17 academic year.

The building is also designed to deliver an acoustic specification for the broadcast studios, with triple glazing and specially-engineered air conditioning.

Simon Ambler, director of the Portakabin Group, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract for the UK’s first UTC to be built off site. This is part of a really exciting regeneration scheme, which will create a landmark education facility to give young people fantastic, practical training for the broadcast and digital media industries.

“This is a hugely significant project for the construction sector. It demonstrates the architectural flexibility of a highly engineered Yorkon off-site solution from the Portakabin Group and how an outstanding building design can successfully integrate different construction methods. It also illustrates really well how we can deliver an inspiring, animated and intelligent building in a very short timescale and on a highly complex site.”

The Global Academy will feature a sports hall, theatres and a cinema, which will be linked to a four-storey modular building by a central atrium space. There will be extensive facilities for TV and radio broadcasting, including radio studios, TV studios, flexible teaching spaces, informal learning zones to facilitate interaction, a café and dining area.

The scheme is being constructed by the Portakabin Group on the heritage brownfield site of the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The site will also require the Portakabin Group to carry out groundworks, extensive excavations for district heating, and the construction of a new sub-station.