Delivered on time, in budget, scoring 10/10 for customer satisfaction, whilst reinvesting £22.4 million of social value locally, this project overcame the challenges faced during the pandemic to not only become the heart of what will become a thriving new community, but the perfect legacy to an internationally significant heritage asset.
In fact, GMP and funding agreements with the DfE were agreed in the February of 2020, just as the world was heading into lockdown, meaning the project was to face the most challenging of periods for the entirety of the build.
The initial plan had been to convert Rugby Radio Station into the heart of a 6,200-home estate, but in light of a secondary school’s place shortage, master developer Urban&Civic (U&C) had other ideas.
Despite outline consents s106 trigger for building a new secondary school being long into the future, U&C approached the DfE direct to agree an innovative and unique funding arrangement that would enable the school to be up and running, years early.
Following this, an innovatively tiered planning framework enabled the school to deliver before the district centre, with an advanced consent for enabling works to de-risk the main project. This proved critical in allowing the discoveries within the historic fabric to be properly consented.
Three Winning Facts:
- Delivered on time, in budget, scoring 10/10 customer satisfaction.
- Bringing a historic Grade II listed back to sustainable and inspiring use.
- £22.4 million of social value reinvested back into the local community.
