GovWire

The Peter Symonds Sixth Form College is a large sixth form college located in Hampshire, with 25 buildings on its main site and a separate adult and higher education (AHED) centre 1 mile from the main campus.

It has:

• 2 sites site 1 where mainly A level provision is offered and site 2 for AHED provision
• an annual turnover of 29 million
• a financial health rating of Outstanding since the 2018 to 2019academic year
• 4,700 students

The gross internal area of the estate is 20,096 square metres.

The land of Peter Symonds College is held by Christes Hospital Trust for the provision of education by the college. Both the land and the buildings on it are vested in the trustees who hold it subject to the trusts scheme, which is to provide a further education institution. Any buildings on the land cannot be used for any other purpose other than for the benefit of the college.

The college owns the AHED site which consists of only one building, with a gross internal area of 1,159 square metres.

The total annual running costs of the estate are 1.3 million per year.

The college employed an independent architect, appointed at tender, who also acted as project manager. They also employed an independent quantity surveyor (QS) and a number of consultants to assist with planning, safety, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Funding approval was granted in October 2021, planning was obtained by December 2021, building construction commenced beginning of March 2022 and occupation took place in January 2023.This represented a minor delay to the original programme of 4 months, due to the discovery of asbestos in the small building which required demolition, and also the need to decontaminate the site of a closed swimming pool.However, the construction timeline was relatively efficient and flexible due to the core design being modular.

The project was designed to achieve Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) Excellent environmental impact grading.

The classroom space specification was fairly standard with no requirement for specialist educational facilities.Together with the planned classroom capacity, which was deliberately targeted to be relatively high at 24, this was planned to give good flexibility to reconfigure for changing curriculum requirements in future.

Governance

Governors were fully involved in the project from grant application stage, with six separate information points designed into the approval and monitoring process.

The following list describes the actions undertaken by the project team and how these were integrated with governance throughout the project.

Stage 1

Select suitable consultants based on the outline brief and scope of duties. Governors approved the final shortlist of consultants for interviews.

Stage 2

Develop a brief and prepare a feasibility report, including design, programme and cost estimate for approval. Governors approved costs to proceed.

Stage 3

Develop, design and prepare tender documents, selecting a list of contractors. This enabled governors to approve the list of contractors invited to tender.

Stage 4

Evaluate tenders and award contracts subject to approval. Governors approved contractor appointments.

Stage 5

Construction activities commenced. The governors reviewed the progress reports.

Stage 6

Completion of works and agreement of final accounts. The governors were made aware of any issues.

Stage 7

Facilitate user occupation and resolve snagging issues. The governors supported the project by being made aware of any issues.

Stage 8

Post completion review of the project. Here the governors undertook a full organisational post project review.

A separate committee called the capital project working group was set up to oversee the project with clearly defined delegated authority and terms of reference.

Accommodation strategy

The planning process for the project formed part of a renewed estates masterplan.

The strategy considers the next 10 to 15 years of potential redevelopment and adaptation to the college and its environs in order to provide a cohesive vision for the way ahead. The content considers the existing sites and proposes a strategy for future development.

A separate feasibility study was undertaken for the project which included an investment appraisal.

Client requirements and project brief

The scheme brief was developed by the senior management team (SMT) in conjunction with the project manager architect, and oversight from the outse

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