Barr and Hardies work together to rescue Coatbridge College

Leading Scottish construction company Barr Construction has won the £4.5 million contract for the second stage of works at Coatbridge College after successfully rescuing the project following the crash of its previous contractors.

The initial stage of the project was to overhaul the college’s South Building at Scotland’s oldest college to improve facilities and provide full disabled access at a cost of £22.5million. Work was halted when previous contractors ROK fell behind schedule and eventually tumbled into administration in November.

Hardies Property & Construction Consultants has been involved since the outset of the works as project managers, quantity surveyors, and construction design and management (CDM) coordinators, and organised the initial tender which was won by ROK. After workers downed their tools and left the site, Hardies swiftly organised the tender process for a new main contractor.

Barr joined forces with Hardies and agreed to the original completion date of March 4th 2011 – even though the job was already two months behind schedule.

Despite further delays caused by the harsh winter conditions at the turn of the year, Barr quickly brought the project back on track and handed over the South Building and its new modern atrium area to the College on the agreed date.

Following the success of this element of the project, Barr tendered for the refurbishment of classrooms, lecture theatre, the new street area, entrance foyer and the Refectory in the College’s North Building.

Michael Braiden, Construction Manager at Barr, said: "This was a great opportunity for Barr to come in and show its ability to adapt, overcome challenges and complete high quality work in a pressurised time-frame.

"We worked hard to meet the original deadline for phase one of the project to ensure the College’s students could start getting full use of the new facilities.

"The next challenge begins on May 3rd when we commence the new contract, which Barr will see through to completion in July 2012."

Derek Ferrier, Managing Partner of Hardies Property & Construction Consultants said: "We congratulate Barr on this latest contract award. They proved their mettle bringing the first phase of the project in on time and I am confident that they will continue to do a great job.

"At Hardies we are used to having to react quickly to problems – our project management is a one stop shop. Organising a fast and effective tendering process in these circumstances is all part of a day’s work for us."

The college was awarded £20.6m in principle by the Scottish Funding Council toward its estates strategy, which includes disabled access provision and refurbishments to provide new state of the art facilities for students.

Coatbridge College was established over 145 years ago, and has evolved with the times to reflect changes in industry and commerce and now offers a whole range of courses such as Automotive and Transport, Dental Studies, Business and Management, and Performing Arts.

John Doyle, Coatbridge College Principal said "Staff and students are delighted with their new facilities. We look forward to next year for the completion of Phase 2 and working within a fully resourced, modern, accessible campus.

"On behalf of my Board, staff and students, I would wish to thank all of our partners in this venture and in particular, Barr Construction and Hardies, who have between them overcome many obstacles and problems to produce a first class facility of which we are all rightly proud."

 

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