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| Balfour Beatty wins £80 million student accommodation contract British construction firm Balfour Beatty announces today the award of an £80 million contract to design and construct a 19-storey building in central London for Urbanest, a leading supplier of student accommodation in the capital. The scheme which is situated on Westminster Bridge Road, in close proximity to the South Bank Conservation Area and the Westminster World Heritage site, will provide sought-after higher education student accommodation across 1,092 bedrooms.The development will also accommodate a new sixth-form college, a health suite with swimming pool and affordable office space. The accommodation floors will include photovoltaic panels and combined heat and power technology to achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating, one of the industry's highest accolades for sustainable best practice in building design, construction and operation. Innovative modular off site construction techniques will be utilised to create bathroom pods and a cladding system, both of which will result in a quicker and safer construction programme. Main construction works are due to commence this summer with completion in time for the beginning of the 2015 academic year. At construction peak, the project will employ 500 people on site. This award follows Balfour Beatty's successful collaboration on four previous student accommodation projects in the capital for Urbanest totalling £100 million at 100 East Road, Hoxton, The Minories in the City of London, the T6 development at Kings Cross and Camley Street in NW1. The tower's scale and curved form, with attractive white banding and recessed glazing, will be sympathetic to the surrounding street scene and public realm particularly given its close proximity to the South Bank Conservation Area and the Westminster World Heritage site. write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Construction News :: home page |