UKSF worked exclusively with North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) in Epsom, Surrey over a four year period to deliver an extensive redevelopment of its estate and a full campus renewal culminating in the formal opening of the new facilities in 2017.

Like many Further Education colleges, NESCOT was housed in a collection of building that included blocks from most post war decades, with no real cohesion or integration. A new campus had been mooted in the past, but the £100m plans came to nothing when the financial crisis pulled down the government funding. With money for new investment hard to find in the FE sector generally, there was little option for the College but to make do with what it had, leading to a less-than-perfect learning environment for its students.

A dynamic board of governors and senior management team were not happy to watch the facilities continue to decline, however, and a survey of the estate showed a significant backlog maintenance bill was creeping higher and higher each year. UKSF brought a full team of professionals on board and started to consider exactly what the College needed, with innovative ways of delivering that need over time.

In the end, a complete overhaul of the campus was agreed, including new access corridors, landscaping, complete refurbishment of most of the teaching space and three new buildings that linked the educational offer to the environment and the community around the College. A £30m major works programme has seen significant rebuilds for the Animal Care Unit, Business, Computing, Hair & Beauty, Media & Music, Osteopathy and Preparation for Life & Work.

The UKSF Team sat beside the College on planning, design, project management and construction, as well as finance. We even spoke at the planning meetings and met the local residence on several occasions during the consultation process!

The end result is a vibrant FE campus fit for the 21st Century and a learning environment from which NESCOT can continue its journey to be an outstanding college.