Partner Article

London architects win £8m South Shields Metro project

Public transport body Nexus has appointed Stephen George + Partners (SGP), a London-headquartered architectural practice, to design the upcoming £8m Metro Maintenance and Renewals Skills Centre in South Shields for client Nexus.

The regeneration project will provide training for more than 1,000 people working on the Metro, including contractors involved in the £350m modernisation of the urban rail system used by 40 million passengers a year.

SGP presented a design vision for a single three storey building which will accommodate a training centre and light maintenance facility.

Working with contractor Galliford Try Infrastructure, SGP says the concept allows the development to be unified, with the training centre wrapping around the light maintenance area.

In the design, vertically stacking the accommodation allowed reception and break-out spaces to overlook the main entrance and kept classroom, meeting and engineering activities clearly split between floors according to SGP.

SGP added that the single building option created efficiencies in design, optimising the requirements for foundations, structure, stairs, lifts, and site clearance, whilst operationally, the management of a single building rather than two offers the client operational cost savings.

Alistair Branch, Director at Stephen George + Partners, commented: “This is a flagship project in the region as well as for SGP’s developing Transport Sector portfolio.

“The existing maintenance is currently done outside the region and this training centre will allow the skilled work engendered by the significant investment in the Metro network to come back into the area.”

Founded in 1970, Stephen George + Partners employs over 80 staff across its offices in London, Leicester, Leeds, Birmingham and Solihull.

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