Sod Cutting Ceremony Marks Start of Work on Major Extension to Bradford Academy

Bardsley Construction has staged a sod-cutting ceremony to mark the start of work on a £4.3m extension to Bradford Academy in Yorkshire.

The 2,500sq metre two-storey building will house 420 primary age pupils at the Academy and is due to be completed in July 2012.

Bardsley is working on the scheme in partnership with DLA Architects of Wakefield and the Leeds office of independent consulting engineers Curtins Consulting.

The sod-cutting ceremony was attended by Adrian Rooney, Yorkshire regional manager for Bardsley Construction, Linda Marshall, all-through principal of the Academy, Albert Price, retiring chair of governors of the Academy, Mark Scott, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator for YORbuild, Thomas Jones of Bradford City Council and pupils and parents.

YORbuild is a series of collaborative construction frameworks for the procurement of new build, refurbishment and design build construction works for the Yorkshire and Humber region’s 22 local authorities and other regionally based public sector bodies, including Third Sector organisations.

Bradford Academy replaced Bradford Cathedral Community College when it opened in September 2007 and now has about 1200 pupils aged from three to 18.

Adrian Rooney of Bardsley Construction said: “This is the first YORbuild scheme for Bardsley Construction and we very much look forward to providing state-of-the-art education facilities for the young people of Bradford.

“We are delighted to be working with Yorkshire architects and engineers and have liaised very closely with the Academy and the City of Bradford Council on the final design to ensure the project is delivered within an affordable budget, while maintaining a high standard of specification and finish.

“The contract builds upon our expertise in the provision of facilities for the public sector and in particular, school and college buildings throughout the North of England.”

Artist's impression of the new extension

Lee Parkinson, Development and Performance Manager for the YORbuild Framework, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Bradford Academy team. They have already seen the benefits of the Framework in terms of procurement efficiency and as the project moves into its delivery phase value will be added through our supply chain engagement / employment and skills planning approaches which offer real opportunities to local people. Our Framework has already created close to 2,000 apprenticeship weeks and we look forward to increasing this further in partnership with Bradford Academy and Bardsley Construction.”

Linda Marshall added: “The ceremony marked a significant milestone in the journey of Bradford Academy. We’re delighted that Albert Price, as retiring chair of governors joined us, and thank him for his vision, leadership and support.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Bradford Council and Bardsley Construction to develop a great All Through school.”

The Bradford Academy has developed their own blog to track and communicate the building process for the new building. The blog has already been used to communicate and obtain feedback on the new building and will be contributed to as the new building is constructed. To view the blog visit http://www.bradfordacademy.co.uk/pages/about-bradford-academy/primary-blog.php