Steelwork creating Guernsey education campus

With the aid of structural steelwork, the Les Ozouets Campus, which will replace five current sites to become Guernsey’s first single further education centre, is quickly taking shape.

The campus will be a centre of excellence for post-16 academic, technical, vocational and professional learning. It will include a range of modern specialist facilities designed to deliver teaching and learning across the varied post-16 curriculum, including engineering workshops, labs, arts centres and specialist studios.

The current construction programme being undertaken by main contractor Rok on behalf of the States of Guernsey, will deliver two interlinked steel-framed buildings, known as the Main Building, and the Construction and Engineering Building.

Hambleton Steel is fabricating and supplying 480t of steelwork, with locally based Siteweld, responsible for the erection package.

Commenting on the choice of steel for the project, Design Engine Architects’ Consultant, David Gausden, said: “The further education sector is also very prone to change, flexing to the demands of an ever-changing work environment.

A steel frame could accommodate both compositional variation and future flexibility and was deliverable on the island.”

The Main Building, which is set to offer 5,300m² of teaching space, is a three-storey braced frame that integrates with the site’s existing Princess Royal Centre for Performing Arts.

The Construction and Engineering Building is also a steel braced frame, which connects to the Main Building’s north elevation at ground and first floor.