BDP preferred bidder for Belfast schools

BDP is on the team appointed Preferred Bidder for two replacement schools in Northern Ireland.  Lagan College and Tor Bank School have been bundled together as a single PPP project worth approximately £35M, and BDP is part of the SEEP (South Eastern Education Partnership) consortium, including GRAHAM and Bilfinger Berger.  As Lead Designer, BDP will be the architect on the two school projects due for completion in 2012.

Lagan College is Northern Ireland’s first and largest integrated college, and caters for 1200 students ages 11 to 18 on an 11 acre National Trust site in a mature landscape setting in Castlereagh on the outskirts of Belfast. A major extension will provide 10,000m2 of accommodation in addition to the existing 5,000m2 of accommodation.

Tor Bank is a special school in Dundonald, near Belfast, for pupils with severe learning difficulties aged from 3 to 19 years old. The new 4,500m2 single-storey school on a greenfield site will cater for approximately 160 pupils.  The design will fully address Tor Bank’s requirements for efficiency, aesthetics, durability and sustainability.