Sheffield Hallam creates "first of its kind" construction alliance ahead of £220m campus investment

A Yorkshire university has created a construction alliance ahead of a £220m investment in a new campus.

Sheffield Hallam University has appointed three partner suppliers to form the Hallam Alliance, a new construction industry procurement and delivery model which aims to inspire change in the industry.

The Alliance, the first of its kind in the UK for a university building programme, is made up of the university and BDP-Arup (design-led consultancy), BAM (construction) and CBRE (facilities management).

The initial project for the Hallam Alliance will be the delivery of the first phase of the University’s campus plan, with work due to start this month.

Sheffield Hallam University’s campus plan sets out a 20-year development framework for the Sheffield Hallam estate.

The first phase could see £220m invested over the next five years and will focus on the university’s city centre estate.

The partnership shares profits and losses so that its incentives to work efficiently are aligned from the outset and throughout the delivery of the schemes.

Daniel Ladbury, director of estates and facilities at Sheffield Hallam University, commented: “The agreement of the Alliance contract marks the culmination of over two years of hard work the university has led on to challenge the industry to deliver better buildings.

“The Hallam Alliance provides a unique opportunity as we look to the future in these challenging times to create a high performing and efficient estate that provides fantastic places for students, staff and visitors to learn, collaborate, and innovate whilst enabling us to continually learn and improve.

“The university has ambitious goals for its campus developments as they support the delivery of our ‘Transforming Lives’ strategy.

“To support this, the Hallam Alliance approach will not only enable the transformation of our estate, it will also transform how we deliver and manage our estate and our vision to drive industry change whilst driving efficiency and best practice.

“The Hallam Alliance provides a unique opportunity to bring academia, professional services and industry together to solve the current and future challenges currently facing universities, the commercial sector and the construction industry and we look forward to realising a new benchmark for successful developments over the coming years.”

Sue Emms, Architect Principal at BDP, said: “This project has the ability to transform how the university operates and, as pioneers of new ways of procuring buildings, transform the way the construction industry operates.

“It will transform the city, support skills, employability and the regeneration of the Sheffield City Region.

“As a Sheffield-based design business, these are all outcomes that we are extremely passionate about.

“The alliance approach will encourage a shared ethos of partnership, collaboration and innovation to bring about more effective and efficient developments.

“It will produce a unique environment for applied learning and research, adding value to create better, sustainable and efficient buildings.”

Paul Cleminson, construction director at BAM, added: “This new approach will make it easier to deliver the high quality, affordable and sustainable buildings that we all want.

“That’s why The Hallam Alliance will be a beacon for improvement for the region and the entire industry.

“This new type of framework means the clients, designers, construction contractors and FM providers all have the same goals and objectives, with benefits such as transparent open book costs approach, and improved risk management.

“This builds mutual trust which will then the drive efficiencies, standardisation and continuous improvement that we are all seeking.

“This is a very exciting time for us all. We are all incentivised to work together to create valuable apprenticeships and work placements and provide many opportunities for students to have real local work-based learning.

“The Alliance will also prioritise using the local supply chain, which will boost businesses in the Sheffield City Region and help grow the local economy.”

Daniel Vaughan, director at CBRE, concluded: “Having FM services involved from the outset provides the opportunity for operational and user needs to shape design and construction helping to ensure smoother handover of buildings, improved quality and performance and the reduction of in-use costs and user issues, creating the best possible user experience.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →