Hull York Medical School

Challenges we faced

• Delivering a highly sustainable building aligned to UN Sustainability Goals
• Providing high quality, low maintenance buildings within a fixed budget
• Maintaining a safe environment 24/7, along with access and car parking for over 23,000 students and staff within a busy live campus
• Compliance with precise Human Tissues Authority standards
• Successfully managing the expectations of different stakeholder groups
• Enhancing the student experience and attracting new staff members
• Maximising social value outcomes and supporting University charities
• Reducing carbon and environmental impacts
• Meeting framework and project specific KPIs

Solutions we presented

We unified the team from the outset through collaborative workshops. This included back-to-back contracts with proven delivery partners on the campus.

• We used a Common Data Environment to share project information up to 30% more efficiently and ensure a clear audit trail to ensure funding compliance and eliminate defects
• We undertook additional early surveys to mitigate asbestos and other project risks
• We held value engineering workshops and used lessons learnt from previous projects on campus to identify over £316k of savings to make the project affordable. Including an alternative compliant glazing system and structural steel solution
• We worked closely with specialist suppliers to deliver critical refrigerated cold rooms, laboratory gases and extraction, complex data, M&E and access control systems
• We developed detailed RAMS, Carbon Reduction and Community Investment Plans to support the delivery of the works safely and efficiently in phases to minimise our impact
• Use of biometric security systems and full site segregation ensured a secure and safe site 24/7
• We used fabric first principles to repurpose the buildings and reduce carbon by 26%

We delivered on time and on budget, with all KPIs and funding requirements met. The project delivered a number of additional benefits for the client and stakeholders:

• A £1.4m social return on investment, with 92% of subcontracts placed locally, and 22 training weeks and 86 apprentice weeks provided, with 193 jobs safeguarded
• £3,000+ raised for local charities including participation in the York Dragon Boat event
• Delivered accident and complaints free
• Mental Health Ambassadors on site supported staff and suppliers
• Acoustic specialists provided a superior DB rating improving the end user experience
• The project was delivered 20% below the BCIS mean average for a facility of this type