31/10/2011 - West Midlands Contractors Framework (WMCF) 1 year on

The WMCF, which contains construction firms Thomas Vale Construction, Kier Moss and Speller Metcalfe, was launched by a partnership of local authority organisations in September 2010 to reduce the cost of the tendering process for capital spending projects, protect delivery timescales and ensure knowledge is shared across all projects. New schools sit at the heart of the framework and represent an important part of our current workload.  

To date – and a year into the framework – some £60 million of project work has been awarded with more than £40 million going to school projects.

Through the WMCF, four new-build primary schools are currently underway: Stourport Primary School, Offmore Primary School, St Catherine’s Primary School and St George’s Primary School. The first, Stourport Primary School in the Wyre Forest area of Worcestershire, will be the first to complete later this year and is targeting a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating. Designed for 340 children between the ages of 4 and 11, we’ve included contractor, designer and client in the design and construction process in order to ensure value for money while creating a sustainable learning environment.

Stourport will feature a range of energy saving, resource efficient technologies to develop a modern school. We’ve installed waterless urinals and low-flush toilet systems to reduce water consumption, high performance doors and windows to increase the flow of natural light and low-energy lighting systems to reduce energy costs. Heating will be managed by a woodchip-fuelled biomass boiler and during the summer, natural ventilation supported by rooftop wind catchers and solar chimneys will replace the need for expensive air-conditioning systems.

This will help the school make significant cost savings in the future. Energy saving light bulbs use 80 per cent less electricity than standard bulbs, efficient roofing and insulation can deliver a 3-10 per cent saving on heating bills during the winter – and encourage heating dissipation in the summer, and low-flow urinals, toilets and taps can reduce water consumption (and therefore water rates) by 67 per cent. With energy and water bills a concern at the highest levels of Government, what we can do to cut costs adds real value now and for years to come.

The WMCF has just celebrated its first anniversary, and it’s already demonstrating the benefits of a framework. We’re going to continue to need new school buildings, and they’re going to need to be built to higher standards than we’ve seen in previous generations – but we recognise there are more efficient ways to build. Through the WMCF, we have an opportunity to do just this and create modern, sustainable schools that help us deliver cost savings in these austere times.