Willmott Dixon Construction Partners with Pace Consult for Academy Bid Success

Multidisciplinary consultancy, Pace Consult has helped Willmott Dixon Construction secure its latest Academy project, Hope Academy, after conducting a brief acoustic review to sharpen the accuracy of the bid and deliver a high quality acoustic design. Named by St Helens Council as preferred bidder for the proposed Hope Academy at Newton le Willows, Willmott Dixon Construction will design and construct the £30.2 million education facility, with Pace Consult appointed as retained acoustic consultants on the project. The winning scheme aims to achieve the highest possible BREEAM rating, which in addition to sustainable criteria, demands that acoustic performance exceeds BB93 minimum standards. As such, the design team at Willmott Dixon Construction collaborated closely with Pace Consult at bid stage, ensuring that the design would deliver superior acoustic performance and that associated costs were accurate. Pace Consult provides Willmott Dixon Construction with access to a free desk based brief acoustic design review as part of a nationwide partnership agreement. By working with Pace Consult during the initial design stage, Willmott Dixon Construction is able to deliver more robust acoustic designs that subsequently keep to budget during construction. Tim O’Brien, design and build manager, Willmott Dixon Construction, comments: “The partnership agreement with Pace Consult has proven extremely valuable in helping us to win a number of education projects nationwide. In the current economic climate, it is more critical than ever to submit accurate bid costs, to ensure we remain competitive but to also prevent works going over budget once on-site.” The Pace partnership is designed to streamline and coordinate the ordering and provision of acoustic consultancy services on education projects. A three tier structure starts with bid accuracy sharpening, which is provided free of charge to approved partners. Pace Consult will then take the project through detailed design to construction phase and sign off, against a pre-agreed and preferential fee structure. Martin Jones, managing director, Pace Consult, concludes: “Our long line of bid successes with Willmott Dixon Construction demonstrates the effectiveness of the partnership agreement. It is commercially advantageous because expert acoustic advice at bid stage gives them an edge over the competition. However, retaining this advice for the lifetime of the scheme protects the integrity of the acoustic design, which ultimately guarantees the delivery of education buildings that are fit for purpose.”

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