Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

Project value: £16million

Sector: Education

Apprenticeship weeks delivered: 190

Cost saving for client: 26%

Local labour within 20 miles: 66%

Local spend within 20 miles: 73%

This is an outstanding new college campus that will benefit all the students and the wider community of north Liverpool."

Paul Dickinson

Headteacher | Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

Placing sports and fitness at the heart of education.

The Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College is a secondary school that places sports and fitness at the heart of education.

With its bright, spacious and modern interior, the building serves to welcome and inspire students, staff and visitors. In 2015, it won the North West Regional Construction Awards Project of the Year.

As part of Liverpool City Council’s plans to improve learning environments across the city, Willmott Dixon was appointed under the National Major Works framework, following the successful completion of Notre Dame school, procured via the same route.

The ‘learning barn’ concept benefits students and the wider community by offering access to a variety of sports facilities as well as an innovative interior layout that was designed to enhance the daily experience for students and teachers alike.

Features included a large sports hall with six courts, an external 3G pitch, a theatre as well as recording and dance studios. Making sure that these were accessible to everyone in the community was a key aim of the project, and special acoustics were used in the sports hall for footballing sessions for the visually impaired.

Liverpool City Council, set a target to achieve 20% savings against comparable projects. Through early contractor engagement and a mutual commitment to collaborative working, the team could deliver 26% savings for the Council.

The school also benefits from the building’s enhanced energy efficiency, with the installation of LED lights alone reducing their annual maintenance and running costs by approximately £18,000.

Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) formed 70% of the project workforce, supporting the local economy as well as the development of the local talent pool in Liverpool.

The Archbishop Beck site also took part in the national 'Open Doors Week' which encouraged young people from across Merseyside to discover the opportunities that a career in construction can offer.

As a part of the Government Construction Strategy, HM Government and Constructing Excellence conducted a thorough assessment of this project. The full report can be viewed here.

I am pleased so many of the subcontracts were awarded to Liverpool firms, meaning that we have been able to recycle millions of pounds back into the city's economy. It is also good to see Willmott Dixon have been training the tradespeople of tomorrow by employing apprentices as part of this scheme."

Joe Anderson

Mayor of Liverpool City

26%

Cost saving for client

190

Apprenticeship weeks delivered

73%

Local spend within 20 miles