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Interserve, the international services, maintenance and building group, has been awarded a £30 million contract to design and build the new Leeds West Academy for Leeds City Council. The project is being undertaken as part of the third phase of developments in the award-winning Leeds Building Schools for the Future programme.
The Academy, sponsored by E-ACT (Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust), will provide 1,200 places for pupils aged 11-16 and 300 for those over 16. It is being built on the site of the Intake High School Arts College in Bramley, to the west of the city. Intake High School (renamed as Leeds West Academy in September 2009) is currently operating in the existing facilities while the new Academy, comprising a mix of two- and three-storey buildings, sited so as to give views across the Aire Valley, is constructed within the school grounds. The new facilities are scheduled to open in September 2011 after which the old buildings will be demolished and the area will be re-landscaped to create a high quality, drained sports pitch.
The new school is designed around three hubs: Innovation, which will house science, technology, maths and ICT; Diversity, which will house all humanities, modern foreign languages and PE; and Communications, which will be home to English, performing arts and creative digital media arts. The Communications hub will also accommodate the main entrances, a striking feature library, a theatre space and a glazed dance studio.
David Paterson, Managing Director of Interserve Project Services, remarked, “We are creating a facility with the capacity to transform the life-chances of children in west Leeds. The educational understanding arising from the close working partnership between Interserve, Leeds Council and E-ACT means that the new Leeds West Academy, which is designed to help each child reach their individual potential, will be at the heart of the local community.
Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, said, “This is the latest example of Education Leeds transforming learning through state-of-the–art buildings and facilities. The new Leeds West Academy building will be another brilliant, 21st Century learning environment where children and young people can achieve success and reach their full potential.”
Annette Hall, principal of the Leeds West Academy, commented, “This isn’t just an investment in bricks and mortar, this is in the community and its young people.
“We believe that Leeds West will be a place which will inspire local young people for generations to come.”