Construction firm secures two contracts worth a total of £47m to create infrastructure and public realm and the Northern Centre of Excellence which will house the Royal College of Physicians. Tony McDonough reports.
Work on the £1bn extension to Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter is set get under way after Liverpool City Council appointed contractor Morgan Sindall to deliver two projects worth £47m.
Paddington Village is a 30-acre site just off Smithtown Lane, to the east of the city centre, which will be developed into three plots – Paddington North, Paddington Central and Paddington South.
Click to read about the Knowledge Quarter projects in more detail
This summer Morgan Sindall will begin work on a £12m project in Paddington Central on the installation of infrastructure, creation of public realm across the predominantly brownfield site and the creation of development plots to make them market-ready.
The second phase will see the firm design and build the £35m Northern Centre of Excellence for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
The RCP is expected to take almost half of the available 140,000 sq ft space and work with the city council to find other associated institutions and life science businesses to let the remainder.
Pre-construction has already started, with the building due to handover in late 2019.
Morgan Sindall secured the contract through the North West Construction Hub framework.
Colin Sinclair, chief executive of Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, said: “Working with the city council and Knowledge Quarter partners we’re creating an urban village at Paddington, a place where people can live, work and socialise and a place where innovation and creativity are encouraged.”
The Liverpool operation of Morgan Sindall has taken residence in a new office at Liverpool Science Park in Mount Pleasant.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson added: “The Knowledge Quarter has the potential to redefine Liverpool’s economy – the ambition, the scale and the scope is that far reaching.
“Paddington Village is creating a huge amount of interest from investors and the first spade in the ground, which is always a symbolic moment for any development, will no doubt further boost that momentum and confidence.”
Investment totalling £2bn into Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter over the next five years could create thousands of jobs and transform the city region economy.
It Liverpool encompasses Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Science Park and the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital.