National College for High Speed Rail

Acivico have recently completed works on the National College for High Speed Rail, delivered to BIM Level 2 mandate. The  Birmingham campus opened ready to welcome students in the 2018 academic year. At full capacity, the college can cater for 1,200 students a year. The college caters for engineering, design, planning, manufacturing and construction skills in relation to the transport industry.

The new development offers 5,703 m2 floor space over three storeys and has a strong emphasis on practical and virtual learning. The development is equipped with the very latest in technology, including virtual reality training on board a Eurostar power car, an augmented reality classroom, workshop, command and control centre, a dedicated BIM (building information modelling) cave and college headquarters.

Acivico offered the following services:

• Clerk of Works
• Architectural design and design review
• Project Management
• CDM Principal Designer
• Quantity surveying and cost management
• Building control
• Building surveying

The construction site was visited frequently by local and wider communities due to it’s association with HS2. These visits were from  schools, colleges and politicians from local and central government, including Councillor John Clancy, Andy Street (Mayor of West Midlands  Combined Authority) and Damien Green, (MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions). The contractor’s community investment plan focused on youth unemployment, social exclusion and community transformation.

Throughout this project, 488 student site visits were hosted and 730 school workshops with an overall 324 weeks of ‘on site’ apprenticeship’ training. This resulted in 13 jobs being created for local people, 23 apprentices and 36 NVQs supported, enhancing the lives of 61 young local people.