Falkirk Campus Forth Valley College

Education

Sector

Education

Delivery team

AECOM

The New Falkirk campus is Forth Valley College’s flagship headquarters

As well as providing a Centre of Excellence for Sport, the 21,000sqm campus is designed to provide flexible and innovative learning spaces throughout incorporating the latest teaching technologies.

Following the successful delivery of two state-of-the-art new-build campuses at Stirling (£29m) and Alloa (£22m) AECOM were appointed by Forth Valley College as project manager and lead consultant for their flagship headquarters in Falkirk from RIBA Stages 2 to 7.

In addition to project management, AECOM provided a comprehensive multi-disciplinary design service, encompassing Architecture, MEP, Civil & Structural Engineering, Acoustics, Fire Safety, IT, Asset Management, Sustainability, and Landscape Design. Construction of the £86m facility began in late 2017 and was successfully completed in Autumn 2019, delivered on time and on budget.

The Falkirk campus now serves as a world-class, adaptable learning environment for 5,000 students, demonstrating AECOM's commitment to creating innovative, sustainable, and functional spaces for education.

The campus style of the college has distinct end uses classrooms, laboratories, workshops, sports halls and offices designed under a common architectural form which is supported by the engineering approach. The state-of-the-art accommodation is constructed adjacent to the existing site to support the regeneration of the wider area. It provides arts, health and wellbeing centre, hair and beauty salon along with a sector-leading facility for sport and science, technology and engineering.

Sustainability

AECOM led the energy strategy for the campus considering Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies including Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), Photo-Voltaic’s. In addition, several elements were considered as part of the project including SUDS techniques, green roofs and rainwater harvesting as part of the design.

Key challenges and solutions

The funding model for the project underwent a significant change partway through the design phase, shifting from a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to a more traditional capital funding approach.

In response to this change, AECOM developed and implemented a revised procurement strategy to ensure the successful delivery of the project. The new strategy adopted a single-stage Design, Develop, and Construct (DDC) route, which streamlined the process by eliminating the need for novation.

This approach ensured that consultants did not need to be re-procured, thereby maintaining project momentum and safeguarding the timeline.

“AECOM provided excellent support throughout the New Falkirk Campus contract, enabling project management to be well controlled and consistently managed. The project documentation, meetings, minutes and organisation was fundamental to our contract success”.

Claire Shiels, former Operations Director, Forth Valley College