Morgan Sindall Construction completes landmark £62.5m school in Abergavenny

Morgan Sindall Construction has marked a significant milestone with the successful completion of the main building phase for the King Henry VIII 3-19 School redevelopment in Abergavenny.  

A special celebration was held to commemorate this transformative achievement. Representatives from Morgan Sindall, Monmouthshire County Council, and key project partners gathered on site to officially hand over the new school building to the client, ahead of a scheduled year of further external works. 

Procured via the SEWSCAP framework, the £62.5 million project delivers a purpose-built, all-through school for Monmouthshire County Council. It brings together primary, secondary, and sixth form education on a single campus, incorporating wraparound childcare, Flying Start provision and specialist facilities for children with additional learning needs. 

The school comprises 15,000 square metres of teaching space, including 107 teaching spaces. These are distributed across the Lower School, Upper School, and Sixth Form, alongside dedicated sixth form dining facilities, flexible open teaching zones, outdoor learning areas, and designated forest school spaces. 

The development also features wellbeing zones, sensory rooms, home economics areas, and dedicated Special Resource Base (SRB) spaces to support pupils with additional learning needs.  

Externally, the site will offer a 3G football pitch, a 2G hockey pitch, a cycle training zone, Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), long jump facilities, and a new Active Travel route - fully lit and publicly accessible - connecting key parts of the site. 

Constructed using a steel frame and incorporating GGBS cement to reduce embodied carbon, the school is Monmouthshire County Council’s first that is designed to be Net Zero Carbon in operation. 

Photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed to power the school directly. Additional sustainability measures include underfloor heating, air source heat pumps, enhanced insulation, and triple-glazed windows. 

The project team successfully navigated a range of logistical and environmental challenges, including managing high groundwater levels and working on a sloping site.  

Early contractor involvement played a pivotal role in overcoming these hurdles, enabling intelligent design solutions to be implemented at an early stage - particularly in relation to steelwork, mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems, groundworks, kitchen fit-out, and furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E).  

A key adaptation was made to the sheet piling design to preserve a 700-year-old oak tree, which is now a central feature of the landscape plan. 

Carbon output for the project has been carefully monitored using the proprietary CarboniCa carbon assessment tool, which enables accurate tracking and control of carbon emissions. 

In addition, Morgan Sindall has applied its 10 Tonne Challenge to this project, encouraging collaboration across consultants and the supply chain to identify innovative ways of reducing carbon emissions during the construction process. 

Beyond environmental sustainability, the project has delivered significant social value for the local community. Morgan Sindall created 60 new jobs for those not in education, employment or training or the long-term unemployed, while supporting 22 new apprentices.  

The team engaged more than 9,323 pupils through STEM activities and donated over 1,000 hours to school engagement programmes. The commitment to supporting the Welsh economy was demonstrated through sourcing 82% of the workforce from Wales and retaining 84% of supply chain spend locally. 

Robert Williams, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Wales, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have delivered this transformative project for Monmouthshire County Council and the local community. King Henry VIII 3-19 School represents not only a major investment in education but also in sustainable construction and inclusive design. 

“This project is a testament to what can be achieved through early collaboration, intelligent planning, and a shared commitment to creating inspiring learning environments.  

"I'd like to thank the client team at Monmouth, the consultants and our project team, supply chain, and all our partners for their hard work and dedication in bringing this vision to life. 

"A fantastic project that has been not only a great delivery success but has also built some wonderful friendships and relationships along the way - a true collaboration with one shared goal." 

£1.7m refurbishment project to provide 'Construction Centre of Excellence’ in County Durham

New College Durham’s Promotion House is being transformed into a new learning space by Esh Construction.

Esh Construction has commenced work to transform an existing factory unit into a Construction Centre of Excellence in Langley Moor.

Working in partnership with New College Durham, the £1.7 million project will see a change of use refurbishment delivered to create a specialised teaching facility for trade subjects. The building will be remodelled to create a space that includes teaching rooms, breakout areas, changing facilities and a practice area for teaching.

Grant Watson, Construction Manager for Esh’s commercial build division, said: “We pride ourselves on building strong working relationships with our clients and we are delighted to secure a second project with New College Durham. We look forward to delivering another high-quality teaching facility that will inspire young people up to adult learners to consider a career in the construction industry.”

Based on Littleburn Industrial Estate, a newly engineered joisted floor will create a mezzanine area to house mechanical plant. The existing building fabric will be stripped back to reveal the existing portal frame before being reclad with new Kingspan composite cladding while internally partitions will be created to form classrooms, breakout spaces and a workshop.

The Promotion House scheme follows Esh’s successful completion of New College Durham’s collaborative and integrated learning space, T.H.E Hub (Technical and Higher Education Hub) in September 2023. The £8.9 million state-of-the-art education facility is based at the college’s Framwellgate Moor site and features 23 new teaching spaces, including an immersive suite, early years foundation nursery and multiple sector-specific arenas.

New College Durham envisages the newly refurbished building to function as a Construction Centre of Excellence from September 2024. It will be used initially for the brick curriculum, but will also house building maintenance and painting and decorating lessons at a later date.

Andy Broadbent, Principal and CEO of New College Durham, commented: “We are delighted to be working on this exciting new project with Esh. We’re excited to be able to provide another new fantastic teaching space for our students, which will be available from September. It’s really important to us at NCD that the projects we undertake contribute significant social value, and working with Esh for this new initiative means not only do we provide the best learning environments possible but also provide additional value to the community at the same time”.

Esh’s social value team will support the project by delivering a raft of initiatives, including employability and careers sessions aimed to inspire young people to consider a career in construction, offering apprentice training weeks and creating employment opportunities for local residents.