Building Briefs: BSF, CB Richard Ellis, DTZ

WORK has begun on the £14.6m regeneration of a Wolverhampton school, part of the city’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Wolverhampton-based construction company Carillion is now on site at Wednesfield High School building a new science, technology, engineering and maths block, outdoor classrooms, a four-court sports hall and two lecture theatres.

Local residents will also be to access the school’s fitness suites, drama studio and dining areas out of hours for the first time. The work is due to be completed in February 2013.

The city council announced in February that it had received approval for the final business case for the first phase of the £270m BSF programme, in which four schools including Wednesfield will receive an investment of nearly £60m.

Phase One will also see the construction of a new £26.3m building for the South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy, the refurbishment of Coppice Performing Arts School for £17.5m and the Braybrook Centre revamp at £1.5m.

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SIX staff from the Birmingham office of property consultancy CB Richard Ellis are taking part in a charity bike ride from London to Amsterdam.

Phil Bartleet, Tansy Brooke, James Catling, Nigel Fletcher, Ian Gascoigne and Richard Meering will join 80 other cyclists from the firm on the 300-mile journey.

They will set off from CBRE’s London office near St Paul’s Cathedral on 28 April and arrive in Amsterdam four days later.

The team is hoping to raise more than £25,000 for its nominated charities, Street kids International, Back Up Trust and the Osmani Trust.

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A SENIOR surveyor from the Birmingham office of real estate services firm DTZ has become one of only a few people in the city to be awarded a new sustainability qualification.

Catherine Thompson, part of the project and building consultancy team, has become an accredited ‘Ska’ assessor, recognised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

It is an environmental initiative which aims to help occupiers and landlords integrate best practice in sustainability, specifically in the fit out of offices.