Willmott Dixon complete renovation of Brighton & Hove’s children’s services’ hub

By Sam Pither

20 October 2022

Share

The Business Magazine article image for: Willmott Dixon complete renovation of Brighton & Hove’s children’s services’ hub

Inside the new Portslade Community College site. Credit: Willmott Dixon Interiors/Barques PR

Social care services in Brighton & Hove have a new base following a refurbishment by Willmott Dixon Interiors.

The previously vacant 24,000 square foot, Portslade Community College sixth form centre in Mile Oak Road, has been converted and refurbished with modern office space, new mechanical and engineering services and new access control.

The works included demolishing a section of the existing site, external repairs and a full strip of the building. The north elevation was structurally altered using an external store to form new welfare facilities.

A £15,000 new sensory garden has also been created on the site. This was overseen by an ecology specialist and funded by Willmott Dixon Interiors. Along with 200 newly-planted trees and a new pond, it features bat and bird boxes, hedgehog houses, bee bricks and a rich native wildflower seed bed to encourage a range of invertebrates.

The project team included Willmott Dixon Interiors as main contractor, architect Potter Raper, which has offices in Kent and Brighton, as project manager and quantity surveyor, and West Sussex-based services engineer Paine Manwaring.

The current children’s service site in Moulsecoomb will likely become the site of more than 200 new council homes.

As part of the project, which was awarded through Orbis - a public sector partnership between East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council, the developers ran a series of community-based activities, achieving a social return on investment in excess of £2 million.

These included feeding local homeless people and vulnerably housed residents through a full funded professional catering kitchen and a biodiversity initiative carried out in partnership with residents, supply chain partners and the council.

Graham Shaw, managing director at Willmott Dixon Interiors, said: “We’re pleased to have had the opportunity to not only repurpose an existing building but to transform an entire site.

“We’ve worked closely with Brighton & Hove City Council to deliver modern, flexible and sustainable office accommodation that offers a range of work settings, including quiet and segregated spaces required by social care professionals.

“We’re incredibly proud of the positive impact we’ve made in the local community during the life of the project, not least in leaving the natural environment in a measurably better state.”

Featured image: Inside the new Portslade Community College site. Credit: Willmott Dixon Interiors/Barques PR

By Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset.

A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise.

Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.