Contractor for technical centre as part of City Learning Quarter named
City of Wolverhampton Council has appointed a construction partner to build an £8.1m City of Wolverhampton College technical centre as part of the City Learning Quarter vision.
The Advanced Engineering and Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence will secure hundreds of jobs in the local economy and create learning opportunities for thousands of students – specialising in engineering and automotive, including electric vehicles (EV).
Speller Metcalfe has been awarded the contract to build the facility at the college’s Wellington Road site in Bilston, with construction to get underway this spring.
It is phase one of the council’s City Learning Quarter masterplan and will be funded by £7.7m from the West Midlands Combined Authority, with the remainder from the Black Country LEP.
The technical centre has been designed for engineering and motor vehicle studies – focusing on new electric, hybrid and traditional vehicles, CAD and robotics facilities.
It will deliver a multi skilled flexible workforce addressing skills shortages in the city. Almost 5,500 learners and 954 apprenticeships are forecast over the first 10 years of the centre.
The City Learning Quarter programme will also see a new city centre campus built in a second phase of works due to start later this year.
The courses the purpose-built Bilston technical centre will host are not suitable for the city centre location.
City of Wolverhampton Council deputy leader Stephen Simkins said: “All the pieces of our ambitious City Learning Quarter vision are beginning to drop into place.
“2023 is going to be a very exciting year for this scheme and I’m delighted we now have Speller Metcalfe on board to start delivering the technical centre at the Wellington Road campus.
“The City Learning Quarter will transform the learning environment for our students and residents, creating top-class facilities where they can flourish.
“We are working hard with City of Wolverhampton College to ensure we not only deliver a vibrant education hub where we improve the city’s learning, apprenticeship and employment offers, but also that we retain our best talent, rather than losing people to different parts of the region.”
Rob Lashford, regional director at Speller Metcalfe, said: “This is not only a new educational building for Wolverhampton College, but one that is at the forefront of education by delivering industry-standard courses to aspiring students. As a local contractor from Wolverhampton, Speller Metcalfe is delighted to be a part of the council’s journey to realise their Learning Quarter vision.”
The news comes after McLaughlin & Harvey were appointed as the preferred contractor to begin construction work later this year on the main City Learning Quarter site, which will be built around the Old Hall Street and St. George’s Parade area of the city centre, incorporating a site on the corner of Garrick Street and Bilston Street, where the former Faces nightclub building once stood.
As well as providing educational benefits for the city, the City Learning Quarter will generate and safeguard 750 jobs in the local economy.
City of Wolverhampton College forecasts that over a 10-year period approximately 45,000 people will benefit from learning at the City Learning Quarter and around 7,500 apprenticeships will be started.
Its central location and close proximity to the new £150m transport interchange will make it easily accessible. It will also boast environmental benefits in line with the council’s climate emergency agenda.
