University awards £287m contract to build MECD

The University of Manchester has formally awarded a £287m contract to construct the Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), one of the largest capital developments ever undertaken by a UK higher education institution, to an international infrastructure group.Balfour Beatty has won the prestigious construction project, which involves redeveloping an 8.3-acre site next to the Manchester Aquatic Centre between Oxford Road and Upper Brook Street. The company was appointed to the university’s Construction Partnering Framework in May 2015 and has been working under a pre-construction services agreement since November 2015, enabling design development and early engagement with key supply chain partners.The four-year project forms part of the university’s ten-year campus masterplan.Upon completion, MECD will provide a new facility housing the university’s engineering schools, innovative teaching spaces and research institutes such as the Dalton Nuclear Institute and the BP-International Centre for Advanced Materials (BP-ICAM). It will also consolidate the majority of the university’s estate onto one main campus, creating a more compact and coherent infrastructure that reduces the institution’s carbon footprint and costs, and free up considerable land holdings in the north of the campus.The finished scheme will feature a range of flexible hi-spec laboratories and lecture spaces to welcome up to 7,000 students and 1,300 staff. MECD will also incorporate blended learning facilities, workshops and a ‘maker space’ where students will see their engineering creations come to life.At peak construction, the project will employ a workforce of 1,000 including multiple apprenticeships and graduate placements.