Barnsley College - Sport & Public Services Facilities

Barnsley College specialises in the delivery of vocational and higher education courses across its seven campuses.

In 2014, the college was successful in securing funding from the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) College Capital Investment Fund (CCIF) to enable £4 million of upgrades to its award-winning sport and public services facilities.

J Tomlinson were contracted to create a sport and public services centre of excellence through two new build extensions alongside minor internal refurbishments works to the multi-functioning sports hall. The building solutions firm also also carried out the installation of new facilities including learning spaces, dance studio, gym facilities and Bistro to create a first-class sporting facility which is open to members of the public.

Eight additional learning facilities were incorporated into the build, including relaxing breakout areas and storage facilities.

As the majority of works would be undertaken during term time, it was especially critical that the project would not impede the college’s day-to-day operations and disturb students, staff and visitors. It was also a priority of the client’s that the works were environmentally-driven.

A site assessment was carried out at design stage which enabled J Tomlinson’s dedicated design and build co-ordinator to gain intimate knowledge of the campus’s landscape. The surrounding area was incorporated into the build to blend the buildings amongst the landscape and other campus buildings.

A phased programme was adopted to ensure students were not disrupted from their studies, particularly during examination periods. Weekly client meetings were held to understand campus activities, study periods and college holiday periods. Works were postponed during examination periods and the most disruptive works were programme to be undertaken outside of term time.

Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of of peak pedestrian and vehicle activity across the campus was incorporated into the project’s traffic management plan. Peak activity around the campus occurred between 9am and 3pm, and J Tomlinson ensured that deliveries were arranged outside of this period in order to minimise disruption.

In line with our ISO14001 Environmental Management accreditation J Tomlinson undertook necessary actions to minimise the overall environmental impact of the scheme at design phase. Our dedicated design and build co-ordinator worked closely with the client to enhance student wellbeing by incorporating additional features in line with the BREEAM specification such as bike shelters, large windows to increase visual comfort and PV panels to provide sustainable lighting.

Furthermore, the procurement of materials were based upon improving the building’s whole life costs. The durability, efficiency and warranty length of materials were taken into consideration to decrease maintenance costs for the college, for example LED lighting was incorporated into the build as a low energy and cost efficient alternative. This decrease in operating costs provided a larger budget for student experience.

Thanks to J Tomlinson’s application of meticulous value engineering throughout each phase of the works, which helped to achieve a staggering overall account saving of £200k.

VALUE ENGINEERING - achieved an overall account saving of £200k.

BREEAM ‘VERY GOOD’ RATED - contributing features included bike shelters, large windows to increase visual comfort and PV panels to provide sustainable lighting.

MINIMAL DISRUPTION - little impact student and staff operations through careful programming, traffic management and considerate working

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT – in line with our companies’ vision and values, our staff attended the college’s careers fair and provided work experience.

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS - the durability, efficiency and warranty length of all materials used were taken into consideration to decrease maintenance costs for the college

ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY PROJECT- a strict site waste management plan was developed and implemented during the build.