Wates Construction has started working on a new £17m modern methods of construction (MMC) school in Middleton, Greater Manchester. The project named Edgar Wood Academy is the first of six projects to hit site that Wates is undertaking since its appointment to the Department for Education’s MMC framework in January 2020.
900-pupil will be accommodated comfortably in this secondary school designed by Sheppard Robson. It’s a three-storey teaching block containing 23 general classrooms and 34 specialist classrooms.
The construction plan includes a sports pitches, sports hall, soft and hard play areas, car parking and drop off areas. Completion is expected in time while by the start of the school year that will happen in September 2022.
Wates is developing temporary accommodation at the same time, on a site three miles away at Hopwood Hall College, to house Edgar Wood Academy’s first 120 Year 7 students when they arrive in September 2021.
Altus Education Partnership (Altus) comprising a multi-academy trust will operate the Edgar Wood Academy. Meanwhile, Wates Construction is also close to completion of the 900-pupil Whitehaven Academy secondary school in Cumbria.
The school in Cumbria will open in time for the start of the new school term in September 2021 and has recently handed over two schools in Cheshire. Hartford Church of England School in Northwich and Upton Primary School in Chester are the organizations in Cheshire.
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