Member Article

The building blocks of education win Simon promotion at Identity Consult

A Sunderland-based construction expert overseeing ambitious redevelopments at some of the North East’s leading education centres has been promoted to company director as a reward for his work. Simon Allan, a lead project manager at Identity Consult - an award-winning, independent development and construction consultancy at Quays West - has worked on the major redevelopment of the Stephenson Building at Newcastle University, alongside numerous projects at Northumbria University, the University of Sunderland and Redcar and Cleveland Schools, including Kirkleatham Hall School. That eye-catching work in just three years at the company, has now seen him elevated to director level. Simon has been involved in many projects at the University of Sunderland including the £9m development of the Sciences Complex refurbishment, the £1.5m first phase transformation of the Murray Library into a School of Medicine and the creation of the Midwifery Suite. He is also the project lead for a significant £43m transformation of Newcastle University’s Engineering campus, with the Stephenson Building central to it. The brief for the redevelopment of the Stephenson Building, set to be completed by the summer of 2024, is to create a beacon for world-leading education, research and collaboration. Features of the redeveloped building include a student-centred, student-led hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, a place for everyone - from quiet spaces to 500 person events and everything in between, the minimising of carbon emissions through efficient design and the latest building services technology and a home for three research hubs (Digital Manufacturing, Sustainable Propulsion, Biomedical Engineering). At Northumbria University, Simon has supported both strategic capital projects and the development of the 2030 Estate Masterplan. His relationship with the university has led to several project commissions including the iconic IC3 project proposal at Ellison Terrace. At Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Simon was the lead project manager for Archway II, which involved the £1.5m refurbishment of an infant school building for pupils aged between four and 16 with learning and behavioural issues. That success led to him working as project manager on the £2.4m remodelling and extension of Kirkleatham Hall School, due for completion next summer and he is also the project manager on the £8m extension and remodelling of Dame Allan’s Senior School in Newcastle. As well as his work in education, Simon is also working in the health care sector with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, including a £4.5m theatres upgrade project at Wansbeck General Hospital and a £14m Hexham Hospital redevelopment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graeme Anderson .