National College of High Speed Rail

Covering 61,350 sq ft, the Birmingham college’s ‘real work’ environment will make the UK one of the ‘engine rooms’ for rail infrastructure construction, attracting people from around the world.

Birmingham City Council worked in partnership with HS2 Ltd to set up the structure of the College and develop the curriculum. The location in Birmingham’s Learning Quarter will feed into the development of the HS2 high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, including its terminal in nearby Curzon Street, and other future rail projects.

The new link will improve capacity across Britain’s rail network, shorten journey times between major cities and boost the economy. It will support up to 100,000 jobs nationwide, create around 25,000 jobs during construction of Phases One and Two and create 2,000 apprenticeships. It will be open to a wide range of people including new entrants, existing workforce, students studying for a foundation degree in rail engineering, access students, mature entrants, higher apprentice rail engineering students, progression from L3 diploma rail engineering, continuous professional development and career changers.

Project Overview

  • Client: High Speed Two
  • Main Contractor: Willmott Dixon
  • Architect: Bond Bryan Architects, Sheffield
  • Client M&E Services Designer: N/A
  • Design and Build M&E Contractor: Derry Building Services
  • Project Duration: 50 weeks
  • Project Value: £17m
  • M&E Package Value: £3.4m
  • Images courtesy of Bond Bryan Architect, Sheffield

Aura’s Role

Aura Technical Services was employed by Willmott Dixon to manage their Mechanical and Electrical contractor Derry Building Services. We were employed from the pre-construction stage through to the commissioning and client training stage.

Detailed responsibilities included:

  • Management of Willmott Dixon’s online document control system, 4Projects
  • Management and coordination of all the new statutory supply services including specific diversions
  • Undertake quality and compliance inspections on site
  • Comment technically on the M&E design package
  • Assist in closing out key M&E issues between the client and Derry Building Services
  • Chair and minute weekly M&E meetings
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