Clive Booth Student Accommodation

  • Client

    Oxford Brookes University

  • Contractor

  • Value

    £70m

  • Completion Date

    August 2024

The Challenge

The Clive Booth Student Accommodation project has transformed the living and learning experience for students studying at the Oxford Brookes University. In total, the new learning village includes four Purpose Built Student Accommodation blocks, with each block comprising of, 8-10 bedrooms, a shared kitchen, vinyl flooring, extensive storage and open communal areas. Overall, 342 bedrooms have been provided, with each room fit out with double beds.

The purpose of the Clive Booth project included updating a large number of the buildings on the site, which were 30 years old and were no longer fit for purpose. Through a collaborative effort between Morgan Sindall, consultants and our supply chain, we were required to provide a high quality student accommodation to meet moder standards for students.

As the village is located next to the University’s Headington campus and is a short walk from the city centre, the aspiration was that the new accommodation would help manage local housing demands by reducing the number of students living in private rented accommodation.

The key challenges the site team faced throughout the project was, ensuring the building handed over on time, whilst managing the safety of all affected parties due to working in a live environment.

The Solution

Maintaining the safety and welfare of the public and students whilst on site was paramount to the project. Firstly, we ensured frequent communication with all affected parties, which included detailed newsletters of important dates, milestones and other important news.

The topography and congestion of the site further complicated the project, presenting a challenge for plants to safely manoeuvre around. It was proposed during the infancy of the project to opt for cranes on site. This was an important feature of the project as this posed far less safety risks, in comparison to the use of forklifts. Initially, there was to be 5 cranes on site for each block, however, as one block was omitted from the scope of works, 4 cranes were on site.

Our team also had to carefully manage a challenging programme. Our team agreed contract principles within the pre-construction agreement (PCSA), which allowed us to get on site quicker and complete a substantial amount of works in that time. By also agreeing early enabling works packages for our sub-contractors, the project overcame challenges with long lead items which, again, safeguarded the programme.

The Results

Along with following the traditional MS and construction safety procedures on the project, the project team completed the project 100% safely (as part of our Perfect Delivery strategy) and achieved both a 45/45 on the CCS visit and a CCS Silver Award accreditation.

The project also handed over on time whilst delighting our customer, achieving a 10/10 for client satisfaction.

31

Apprentices

47%

SME Spend

£178.4m

Added Value

10/10

Client Satisfaction

192.4T

of carbon saved

Client Testimonials

“The transformation of the Clive Booth student village site is providing high-quality rooms and social spaces for our students within a picturesque setting near to our Headington campus.

“It will also benefit the local community by reducing pressure on the Oxford housing supply by allowing more students to live in excellent student accommodation on our estate.”

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Contractor Performance | Commitments

Legacy

75% No of SMEs

98 local jobs created, contributing £3,419,808 in social value

46 work experience weeks, generating £8,947 in social value

Schools engagement: 5,001 students participated in engagement activities, contributing 232 hours.

£22,512 donations to charity

5 volunteer hours

£2.63 LM3

Delivered Social & Local Economic Value: £178,464,192 achieved, with a 158.9% return on investment in social and economic terms.


Social Value initiatives:

The site team hosted a number of site tours for students throughout the project; this included students from Orion Academy, a project we completed in 2022. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, our project team were unable provide a site tour for the students during the Orion Academy project. We therefore invited them to visit the Clive Booth project, and witness construction first hand. They were also tasked with completing a construction exercise by building a bridge.

Engaged with over 5001 students throughout the project, ranging from career fairs to school visits. The project team attended a special event over at Greyfriars Catholic School in Oxford, which aimed to inspire the year 8’s and broaden their understanding of the diverse and exciting careers within the construction industry. The experience was designed to broaden the students’ knowledge and experience about the industry and where their careers in future can take them.

Sustainability

8% waste diverted from landfill

Over 192.4T of carbon saved

Using GIATEC Concrete sensors, which saved 23T of carbon (part of the overall 192.4T saved)

Gold Standard: Achieved in Air Quality and Water Reduction Plans, showcasing environmental responsibility.

The project team explored ways with our supply chain regarding how we could reduce the carbon output on the project; the team collaborated with concrete sensor specialists GIATEC Smartrock. GIATEC Smartrock produce concrete sensors, which are cast into the concrete slabs which measure the temperature and strength of the concrete. Via the use of a mobile app, the team could ascertain live information about whether the concrete has or hasn’t cured.

Aftercare

Weekly meetings with the client as part of the handover process; this included completing a handover tracker.

Handover tracker detailed all the relevant certificates, testing and inspections that MS carried out

8 month aftercare period

Dedicated Morgan Sindall point of contact

Safe

Zero RIDDORs

CCS Score 45/45

The project team achieved a CCS silver award

Fair

100% payment within 30 days terms

SCF Framework Manager

James Wright 

Email: james.wright@hants.gov.uk

Phone: 07761 330560

Contractor Framework Manager

Alan Smedley

Email: alan.smedley@morgansindall.com

Phone: 07967 686066

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