City of Wolverhampton Council has appointed Speller Metcalfe as preferred contractor to deliver major works on the city centre’s Central Library and Adult Education Wolverhampton facilities as part of the £61m-Phase Two City Learning Quarter development.
The Worcestershire firm has been awarded the pre-construction contract and will now develop the detailed designs and carry out some enabling works ahead of the main contract and full works starting in the autumn.
The Central Library plans include the restoration of the Grade II-listed building’s façade on Snow Hill, a new roof, internal remodelling, new rear entrance lobby and landscaping.
Wolverhampton’s Alan Garner Centre on Old Hall Street will also undergo internal remodelling and the construction of a two-storey glazed link building to connect it directly to Central Library’s 1930s extension.
The improved Central Library and Adult Education Wolverhampton facilities will sit alongside a new education facility for City of Wolverhampton College currently being constructed by McLaughlin & Harvey on the site of the college’s former Metro One campus and land on the corner of Garrick Street and Bilston Street, where the Faces nightclub building once stood.
Speller Metcalfe is also working on Phase One of the City Learning Quarter masterplan – a new £8m Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre at City of Wolverhampton College’s Wellington Road campus in Bilston – which is on track to be completed this summer and is being funded by West Midlands Combined Authority.
Matthew Bailey, Director at Speller Metcalfe, said: “We’re delighted to be working with City of Wolverhampton Council on another phase of works for the City Learning Quarter.
“The Advance Technology and Automotive Centre project has been a success and we look forward to carrying this success through to the next project. Restoring heritage and listed buildings is the bread and butter of our team and we’re pleased to have been appointed for this scheme.”
