Collaborative working achieves major results for Manchester’s BSF programme

Manchester’s Building Schools for the Future and Academies Programme team explain the process behind the hugely successful project. By Penny Shannon.

The success of Manchester’s £509 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme has been based on strong collaborative working – a unique, united and effi cient approach that can be used by other councils across the country.

At the heart of the ambitious programme was the delivery framework, which evolved into the “Manchester Model”, with four objectives to centralise, simplify, standardise and optimise delivery via all the partner organisations in the public and private sector.

From the start, Manchester City Council and international consultancy Mace realised that a programme of this complexity and scalewould need a management model developed specifically to meet Manchester’s needs – on time and within budget.

An essential common objective was toensure that all the contractors worked together – to avoid disparate parties working in isolation and leading to misunderstanding.

“Communication was the key to successful forward planning,” says Paul Maccabee, programme director at Manchester City Council.

“Straightaway we knew we had to create the right working environment for a project of such magnitude for Manchester’s school children.

Manchester viewed BSF as a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform school facilities – and it was crucial to start as we meant to continue.”

This sentiment is echoed by John Lorimer, capital programme director at Manchester City Council.

“The BSF programme provided an opportunity to change the way building projects are delivered in Manchester,” he says.

“In the past, one of the main criticisms of the BSF programme has been the complicated and bureaucratic nature of the national model.

We acted quickly and decisively to present a Manchester Model which was specifi c to the city’s needs.”

As part of the management and communications strategy, the 80-strong project team made up of council, Mace and contractor staff was moved into one building within Manchester City Council to help create a collaborative working relationship.

“This single, shared vision for what became ‘Team Manchester’ was vital,” Maccabee continues. “Another success of our innovative approach in centralising the project team has been the way in which contractors have joined forces to meet the shared objectives.

This has introduced efficiencies by reducing the headcount. Just look at how our constructor partners have pooled their massive professional expertise throughout the BSF process.”

A second, vital approach throughout the programme was the adoption of the Kit of Parts strategy – where the integrated supply chain provided a series of major benefits. Financially, it meant that Manchester’s commercial costs were 12 per cent less costly than other BSF programmes. And, strategically, it became a flexible resource that could be adapted for each phase of the BSF programme.

Tim Laycock, programme manager at Mace, says: “The Kit of Parts doesn’t prescribe a generic look or limit design scope.

“It brings together the collective expertise of the entire team and provides the school with a large list of approved options which can be adapted for individual needs at pre-approved costs.

“This all linked into the Strategic Partnering Agreement, which measures performance and continuous improvement through key performance indicators and partnership targets.”

The Kit of Parts created effi ciencies through the supply chain by eliminating waste and duplication during the building phase. Crucially, it standardised details and rates to allow better costs and give certainty during the programme.

The approach to partnering within a framework environment has been crucialto the city council securing the maximum BSF and academies funding available. Working with its framework partners, the council was able to define a procurement route and achieve contract status for each project within reduced timescales, allowing the delivery of the full programme as envisaged at the outset.

BSF Wave one and academies projects have been delivered by Laing o’rourke and Balfour Beatty, with BSF Wave Four projects being delivered by Bramall Construction, Crudens, GB Building Solutions, Parkinsons & Willmott Dixon.

The last project to be delivered, the Creative and Media Academies, will be completed in September 2012 by LendLease under the auspices of the newly established North West Construction hub (high Value) framework.

But the benefits of joint working aren’t just limited to the building programme – all the partners involved in the programme take a ‘value added’ approach.

This is perhaps best demonstrated by the Manchester People into Construction initiative, created in July 2008 to provide skills training and employment opportunities for Manchester people. To date the initiative has offered 111 placements, created 57 permanent roles and more apprenticeships are planned on current projects.

As with any project, the results are what the BSF programme will be judged on.

To date five academies and 14 high schools have opened on time and on budget in Manchester. A further 14 school projects are currently on site, including fi ve new contractors all benefi ting from the lessons learned by their predecessors.

“The results are evident for all to see,” says Maccabbee. “A total of £509 million was secured for the BSF programme, 19 schools have opened and 14 projects are on site.

“And, even more importantly, the true benefi ts are now being realised with Manchester’s GCSe and A-Level results improving at a faster rate than the national average.”

In the last year (2009-10) the proportion of Manchester pupils achieving fi ve or more GCSes with A*-C grades, including english and maths, rose to 45 per cent – a significant improvement on the previous year’s 36 per cent.

As for the future, what lessons have been learned from the BSF programme?

“There are many lessons we can learn from the programme,” says Maccabee.

“We believe that Manchester’s BSF programme is the evidence that challenges a tarnished view of the construction industry. The evolution of the Manchester Model framework and the collaboration between all the organisations involved has, quite simply, delivered more for less.

“No one party can claim this success as its own; no one individual has the monopoly over good ideas.

“The whole team has learned and benefi ted from the programme. it may be a platitude, but it really has been a case of working together for the common good.”

CASE STUDY

East Manchester Academy
Cost: £31.5 million
Pupils: 203 at opening, 900 by 2016
Lead Sponsors: Bovis Lend Lease and Laing O’Rourke
Co-sponsors: The Manchester College, New East Manchester and Manchester City Council
Opened: 6 September 2010

This brand new school opened with places for 203 year Seven pupils. over the next five years, its student base will expand to 900 11 to 19-year-olds. it specialises in the built environment and has also been designed as a centre of excellence for the performing arts. related subjects will include sciences, design technology, architecture, interior design, art and engineering, as well as fi lm studies, fashion design, music, photography, drama and dance. The school is equipped with a theatre, recording studios, science labs, open plan art studios and a sports hall with facilities for activities including basketball, badminton and table tennis. There are also separate studios for drama and dance, as well as a dedicated “homebase” for each year group.

The school’s spacious grounds incorporate football and rugby pitches, as well as training areas,
a cricket oval and an all-weather pitch.

East Manchester Academy’s campus also boasts a new district library and a cafe for the use of the community. Manchester City Football Club has already established close links with the school and it has an onsite City in the Community room where coaches mentor pupils.

Lead sponsors are construction companies Laing o’rourke and Bovis Lend Lease.

The project represents the fi rst time that these two industrial competitors have worked together to deliver an academy. Co-sponsors include the Manchester College, urban regeneration company New East Manchester and Manchester City Council.

East Manchester Academy principal, Guy hutchence, says: “We’re now able to bring secondary education to this part of east Manchester for the very first time.

“We have a superb building, fantastic facilities and staff, and enthusiastic young pioneers ready
to learn.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of our sponsors, Bovis Lend Lease and Laing o’rourke, and public sector partners New east Manchester and the Manchester
College, who have been truly remarkable collaborators with this project.

“We can now provide local youngsters with the fi rst-rate education they need to give them that crucial step up in life. We are committed to improving the life chances of our young people for generations to come.”

Manchester Communication Academy
Cost: £30 million
Pupils: 1,320
Lead Sponsor: BT
Co-sponsors: The Manchester College, Manchester City Council
opened: 9 September 2010

Manchester Communication Academy (MCA) was opened as a brand new school located at the heart of the community in Harpurhey.

It initially offered places to year seven to year 12 students. At full capacity, it will provide education to 1,200 11 to 16-year-olds, with additional space for 120 post-16 students. The academy has been designed as a highly creative place to learn that uses communication in all its forms, from speech and the written word to the latest collaborative digital technologies, to ensure pupils are confident and independent learners.

Students are also encouraged to work in partnerships to convey ideas and solve problems, and to embrace diversity and new ideas. The aim is to equip them with the skills to be successful in a rapidly changing and competitive economy.

As lead sponsor, BT provides a wealth of communication, business and technical expertise to encourage interaction among learners and give pupils an insight into working in one of the UK’s largest businesses. The academy boasts new sports and leisure facilities, such as a sports hall, drama studio and six sports pitches, one of which has fl oodlights and an all-weather surface. Local people are encouraged to use the amenities and can also use the academy to access practical training and advice on everything from improving their literacy and numeracy to learning about the latest digital technologies.

The MCA’s staff, headed by principal Lynne heath, have been working to build links with local schools, organisations and community groups to determine what residents want from the
new school in order to make an integral part of the area. Furthermore, the MCA is committed to following environmentally responsible practices and has been designed and built to meet – and surpass – the latest green guidelines.

“The support for our new academy from students, parents and the wider local community has been incredible,” says heath.

“We see our role as working hand-in-hand with students and the local community tohelp anyone coming through our doors to achieve their full potential in life.

“We also want to make education both enjoyable and highly relevant to today’s competitive marketplace and we’ll be working with parents and carers to make sure that learning doesn’t stop at the classroom door.”

Manchester Health Academy
Cost: £19 million
Pupils: 720
Lead Sponsor: Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Co-sponsors: The Manchester College, Manchester City Council
Opened: 8 September 2010

The Manchester health Academy is the fi rst institution of its kind to be sponsored by the NHS. Having previously occupied the former premises of the Brookway High School and Sports College, it moved into
a brand new building last September. The academy provides places for 600 11 to 16-yearolds,
as well as 120 spots for post-16 students and it focuses on fields related to health and
bioscience.

It has been built with solar panels to generate green electricity and its external cladding has been designed with coloured panels to refl ect the genetic code. The campus also features allotments, an outside performance area and a refurbished 1950s sculpture by Mitzi Cunliffe, the artist who designed the famous BAFTA award mask.

In addition, the complex boasts a community library, which is open during the day, evenings and on Saturdays to provide a homework club for both academy students and local primary school pupils. Furthermore, the library hosts regular reading groups, author visits and free community events, as well as providing a point where residents can access wider council services, including benefits, health and employment advice.

The lead sponsor is Central Manchester University hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with Manchester City Council and the Manchester College as co sponsors. The academy is also supported by the Manchester United Foundation, which works with students to promote healthy living through sport.

The Co-operative Academy of Manchester
Cost: £21.7 million
Pupils: 1,020
Lead Sponsor: The Co-operative Financial Services
Co-sponsors: The Manchester College, Manchester City Council
Opened: 6 September 2010

The Co-operative Academy of Manchester specialises in finance and business-related subject for 900 11 to 16-year-old and 120 post-16 students. It opened as the only academy in the country with a financial services provider as its lead sponsor and has been designed to create a “business-like” environment featuring boardrooms, lecture theatres and flexible workingzones with break-out areas and plasma screens. There are no school bells and lessons last from half-an-hour to an hour, again to reflect the world of work.

The normal teaching day runs from 8.20am to 2.30pm, which frees up time in the afternoon for extracurricular activities, such as sports training, community or volunteer work, or taking the Duke of Edinburgh Award. In addition to being a business-like environment, the academy has been built with the environment in mind. it features solar panels, lights that turn off automatically when not in use, acoustic panels to reduce noise, advanced thermal insulation and a combined air ventilation and heating system.

Kathy Leaver, principal of the Co-operative Academy of Manchester, said: “The academy has been designed with a huge amount of care, passion and expertise, enabling us to offer young people in north Manchester one of the best, most well-rounded education experiences in the country.”

Rod Bulmer, managing director of retail for the Co-operative Financial Services and chair of the Academy Trust, added: “As a successful financial services provider, we are ideally placed to bring the academy’s finance and business specialism to life and to support students to develop vocational skills to allow them to prosper in their careers.”

Manchester Enterprise Academy
Cost: £19 million
Pupils: 870
Lead Sponsor: Manchester Airport
Co-sponsors: The Manchester College, Willow Park Housing Trust and Manchester City Council.
opened: 8 September 2010

Manchester Enterprise Academy originally opened in the premises of the old Parklands high School in 2009. it moved to a brand new building on 8 September 2010. The academy, which provides places for 750 11 to 16-year-olds plus 120 post-16 students, specialises in business and enterprise, and pupils can received one-to-one mentoring from local business people.

The building was designed with flexible learning zones, one of which is laid out in the style of a typical office. It also has a university-style lecture theatre, a boardroom and a multi-screen TV wall that allows numerous images and pieces of information to be screened simultaneously. in addition, it features solar thermal panels, underfloor heating, a three-storey central glazed atrium, acoustic panels to reduce noise and lighting that automatically adjusts depending on the level of natural sunlight and turns off when not in use.

Nikki Birch, acting principal of Manchester Enterprise Academy, said: “A new building provides us with the opportunity to improve education in this community for all age ranges.

“It has taken a lot of hard work to get to this point and now it is up to the teaching staff and the students to deliver new standards in education and achievement.”

St Peter’s RC High School
Cost: £3.1 million
Pupils: 900
Client: Manchester City Council (funded through Building Schools for the Future)
Contractor: F Parkinson
Architect: Ellis Williams Architects

In July, Manchester unveiled the city’s first secondary school to be built with timber, the £3.1 million St Peter’s RC High School in Gorton.

This project, which formed part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, delivered a new, 513 sq m timber frame building with a grass-covered roof. it also included refurbishment to existing buildings. The timber panel design was selected because of its sustainability, ease and speed of construction. A total of 282 panels, the largest measuring 2.4 metres wide by 7.6 metres long and weighing 1.45 tonnes, were shipped to the site from Switzerland and lifted into place by a crane. The structure took just three weeks to build.

Using wood instead of the traditional concrete and steel will have to improve the building’s environmental performance and cut its carbon footprint. The timber panels were supplied by eurban.

Another eco-friendly feature is the school’s green roof from manufacturer Bauder, which was grown in Norfolk before being harvested and transported to the North West in a single day to ensure freshness. it is a soil-less, ultra-light, slow-growing grass that in addition to being low maintenance also acts as a waterproofing system, while cutting energy use and Co2 emissions.

The new building provides eight new classrooms, an IT room, an office, a community room and lifts to improve disabled access. The improvements will allow the 900-place school to extend its teaching provision and create new facilities for Special Education Needs (SEN) pupils. As a result, St Peter’s is now one of only three Manchester schools to offer specialist, mainstream provision for up to ten young people with specific language impairment, or SLI, and/or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). it also has five places for pupils with physical disabilities. The project has delivered bespoke amenities for both SLI and ASD students, including teaching areas for small groups, a room for language and speech therapy, staff development and training rooms, a hygiene suite and physiotherapy room.

An additional £1.4 million has been invested in improving ICT at St Peter’s. As a result, pupils can now access the school’s computer system from home and parents have improved access to information about their child’s academic progress.

As part of the project, a courtyard was created to link the new building with the existing school. it features a “global signpost” reflecting the 50-plus nationalities represented in the student population.

Pupils were also given the chance to take part in design workshops and created a mural displayed on a side elevation at the Pink Bank Lane entrance. St Peter’s was officially handed over at a ceremony in July, which featured a celebration and special blessing.

Head teacher John McNerney said: “The official handover marks the start of a new era for us all - the fabulous new facilities can’t help but engender pride in the school. The pupils were
involved throughout the project, gaining valuable work and skills experience along the way. They also took part in design workshops and created the mural that is displayed at the Pink Bank Lane
entrance to the school.”

Cllr Afzal Khan, Manchester City Council’s executive member for children’s services, added: “The BSF programme transforms learning experiences for pupils and the communities who use the facilities. it’s not simply a matter of bricks and mortar - it’s all about making a commitment to the future of our children’s education so that every student living in the city can benefit from those improvements.”